No Silver Lining
by Ankhutenshi
Summary: AU. Dark circumstances have thrown together an unlikely group, and they must each learn that the others have hidden sides. Updated 27-07-04
1. I: The Calm Before The Storm

**No Silver Lining**

Authoress's Notes : This follows my AU, where Johto never happened, but the Orange Islands did. Sounds confusing, it's really not. Basically, he has none of the Johto-region Pokémon. Ash is now a teenager, and has now competed twice in the Pokémon League but has yet to win it. He did win the Orange Islands League.

Brock and Misty have since left to travel by themselves; Misty has returned to Cerulean Gym and become its leader again, and Brock is still traveling with his Pokémon, eyeing every lovely female he sees. Ash keeps in touch with his friends and with Pallet Town.

Text written like this is Pokémon speech.

Disclaimer: If you know who the character is when the story starts, it's not mine. If you've never heard of the character, chances are, it is mine. Making money off this ? Unlikely ! Easy enough !

* * *

**Part 1: The Foundling**

Mauvetown.

Barely big enough to make it onto the map, it was nevertheless locally reputed for its beautiful location on the cliffs overlooking the sea. Waves crashed continuously against the sheer rock, and there were several places in town where you could charter a ferry for a cruise, or passage to the many ports further along the coast. The town was bordered to the east, north, and south by forest, a popular habitat for many Pokémon. Little Mauvetown was, effectively, isolated.

Despite its picturesque appeal, it was not a large town; the biggest and busiest building was the welcome sight of a Pokémon Center, headed by, yes, Nurse Joy. (Second cousin to the Viridian City Joy.) A road through the eastern forest led to Cobalt City, about an hour by vehicle and a pleasant half-day's walk.

In the center of the town was a large fountain depicting a trio of Gyarados twining around each other and spouting water in a steady flow. When the sun hit the cliffs to the west, and the light caught the spouts of water, it looked as though the Gyarados were spitting liquid fire. Around the fountain were benches, and it is here that the story begins…

* * *

**  
Prologue: The Calm Before The Storm**

In the dying light of the setting sun, Ash Ketchum stared at the map from all angles, as he walked around the fountain, but it refused to make any sense to him. The sign at the town gate had said, "Mauvetown" but he couldn't find it anywhere on the map he held. Pikachu sat on one of the benches and watched Ash wander as he tried to get his bearings.

"I don't get it, Pikachu." Ash said finally. "I don't know where we are."

"Pika-pi." Answered the Pokémon, raising a paw to point at the enormous ball that marked the Pokémon Center.

Ash grinned and folded up that map. "You're right, Pikachu. I guess we can ask there."

Behind them, the sun slipped beneath the horizon, and as they walked across the town square, dusk was already gathering. Ash pushed the door to the Center open, and he and Pikachu stepped inside. There weren't any trainers in the main room, and the Nurse Joy was typing away at her computer. She looked up when the bell above the door jingled.

"Good evening." she said pleasantly. "I don't think I've seen you here before."

"I'm Ash Ketchum, from Pallet Town." The teen trainer introduced himself.

"Pallet Town's a long way from here." The Nurse Joy observed. "What brought you to Mauvetown, Ash ?"

"Pi-pi-pi. Pikachu." Pikachu chortled.

"I didn't get lost." Ash protested, "I just didn't end up where I was headed for."

"Pika-pi-chu." Pikachu retorted.

"No, that's not the same thing."

"Pika-pi-pi-chu ?"

What was the difference ? To that, Ash had no answer, and instead, he held out the map that he had purchased of the area a few towns back. "Can you show me where we are, please ?" he asked.

Nurse Joy smiled a bit and pulled out a red marker, leaning over the desk a bit. Without hesitation, she blotted a little red mark on the paper map right on the coast. "That's Mauvetown here." She said, and underlined another name in tiny print. "And that's Cobalt City, up the road. Is that where traveled here from ?"

"No, we came through the forest." Ash said. "But Cobalt's where I wanted to go. There's a Gym there, isn't there ?"

Nurse Joy nodded. "Sicora's gym, yes. You must be a pretty good trainer if you want to battle her; she's a psychic trainer."

"We can beat her." Ash said confidently, and Pikachu added his encouragement. Joy couldn't help but smile at their enthusiasm. She had seen Ash's type before -- they pulled through even when the odds were stacked against them. "Come on, Pikachu ! We're going to Cobalt City."

"Wait," exclaimed Joy, nodding towards the window, "Look outside; it's getting dark and there's a storm blowing in from sea."

Ash looked, following her gaze out the window. Heavy clouds were rolling over the cliffs, and the tempo of the crashing waves had picked up their crescendo outside. Far out to sea, a bolt of lightning zigzagged it's way to meet the ocean. Ash looked crestfallen.

"You can stay here." Joy offered, "All the rooms are empty. We don't get many trainers here."

Thunder rumbled in from the sea. "Thanks, Nurse Joy." Ash said. Actually, he was beginning to realize that he was pretty tired. The hike that had led them to Mauvetown was completely uphill; which made sense, considering the cliffs were the highest land point around. "Is there a videophone so I can call home ?"

"There's one in every room."

"Pika-pika." Pikachu chirped at Nurse Joy, and the woman smiled back. "You're both welcome. Have a good night's sleep. The morning PokéBreakfast is at 7:00."

----------

Ash lifted the receiver on the videophone and dialed in his mother's phone number. It rang a couple of times, and then her image appeared on the screen.

_"Ash, honey, I hope you're not out in this weather,"_ were her first words.

"No, Mom, I'm staying the PokéCenter in Mauvetown."

_"Where's that ?"_

Ash held up the corrected map for his mother to see. "Really tiny place." He said, peeking over the top of the map so he could keep talking to her. "Pikachu and I are going to Cobalt City tomorrow. There's a Gym Leader there named Sicora that I want to challenge."

Pikachu jumped on to Ash's head, but the brim of his hat wouldn't support the Pokémon and Pikachu ended up sliding into the videophone's screen. The image on both ends flickered.

_ "Hi Pikachu."_ Delia said cheerfully. _"How are you ?"_

"Pika ! Pikachu !" exclaimed the Pokémon.

Ash groaned. "I did NOT get us lost." He said, aiming a playful cuff at Pikachu, who ducked out of the way. Outside, thunder boomed, and Ash and Pikachu jumped. The storm had rolled in a lot faster than they'd expected. He waited until the rumbles had died off, then said,

"Just called to let you know where I am, Mom. I'll call you again, after I beat Sicora." He said, and grinned. She just shook her head fondly.

_"That's my boy. Future Pokémon Master." _

Ash beamed and bid her goodnight, and her image disappeared. He was just about to close his half of the connection when the console went dark. It took him half a second to realize that it wasn't just the console; everything had gone dark. All the lights were off. "Pikachu ?" he called, and felt the Pokémon jump lightly onto his shoulder. Electricity danced around the sensitive spots on his cheeks, dimly lighting a radius around the pair. Ash dug through the nightstand by the bed and found a flashlight. He clicked it on, and swept the strong beam over the room.

"Nurse Joy ?" he called, and went to the door. The hallway was empty, so he walked down the staircase, taking the steps one at a time until he reached the main floor.

"In here, Ash." Came her voice from somewhere in the back of the PokéCenter. Ash slipped behind the counter and shined the flashlight around. As his eyes adjusted to the dark, he saw the faint white glow from Joy's uniform. She was standing in front of the fuse box, which was dark. There was a faint smoky smell in the air. "I think the Center was hit by a lightning strike." She said. "Watch out for the glass. The fuses didn't just burn out, they exploded. And I don't have any more here right now. I forgot them the last time I went to Cobalt City."

Ash walked over to the window and looked out. The trees on the edge of town were leaning heavily to one side. Every few seconds, a flash of lightning would illuminate the tiny town, closely followed by a crash of thunder. "Looks like the whole town lost power." He said.

"That makes sense." Joy said, "Mauvetown's so small that all the buildings are hooked to the same circuit. So even if the fuses weren't blown, I doubt we could get the power back on. At least, not until morning, when we can look for the problem in the daylight. Did you get your call in ?"

"Yeah," Ash said, "Right before the power went out. Don't worry about the lights for tonight, Nurse Joy. We don't sleep with them on anyway. Right, Pikachu ?"

"Pi-pi-pi."

"I guess you're right." Joy said, and closed up the fuse box. "Goodnight, Ash."

Back in their room, Pikachu jumped up on the bed while Ash took off his backpack and jacket, and removed his shoes, setting them by the door. His eyes had almost completely adjusted to the dark, and since the room was lit every few seconds with flashes of lightning, he could see relatively well. Outside, the storm was pounding furiously at the windows, but Ash drew the curtains to block out the insistent lightning. Out of habit, he filled a glass with water from the bathroom sink and put it on the nightstand next to his belt full of PokéBalls. Then he climbed under the soft blankets. Pikachu curled up on the other half of the pillow, and Ash reached over and scratched behind the Pokémon's ears.

"Piii." Pikachu said happily.

"Night, Pikachu." Ash said, and despite the storm's best intentions, drifted off to sleep.

----------

"Come on, I'm getting mud all over my boots. Just throw it in already." The voice, female, sounded pained, as though muddy boots were literally the end of the world.

"The stream ain't that deep here." This voice was male, gruff.

"So ?" Annoyance. "I'm not standing outside all night so you can pick the perfect spot in the river."

"Fine, fine. Remember, it was your call." A splash followed, then the suction sound of the mud as the two walked away.


	2. I:I Something Amiss

**No Silver Lining - Part 1: The Foundling**

* * *

**Chapter 1: Something Amiss**

_Something… there was something there._ Hovering on the bare fringes of understanding. _What was it ?_ Not something good. _No… not at all. Fear. Fear ?_ More than fear. _Almost, almost… Where ?_

Pikachu came awake knowing only that something was terribly, terribly wrong. Immediately, he sat upright on the bed and looked around for the disturbance, his tail erect and his ears twitching. The clock on the wall had progressed several hours since he'd fallen asleep; it was, literally, the dead of night. But he didn't see anything wrong. The room was dark, and the rhythmic rise and fall of the blankets told the Pokémon that Ash was sleeping peacefully. 

So what had woken him ? 

Pikachu jumped down from the bed and went to the window. He nosed the curtains aside and looked out. The storm had passed, leaving only a steady but soft rain to mark it's passing. He could see nothing wrong outside, either. Yet there had to be something, something that had… 

"Pika-pi." He said, bounding back over to Ash's bed, distressed. He released an extremely mild, crackling shock over the teen, and Ash woke, blinking rapidly. 

"Pikachu ? What's wrong ?" Ash said, groggily. 

"Pika-pi. Pikachu." The electric Pokémon said, anxiously. He still didn't know what was wrong, but he had to find out -- and that meant going to look for it… whatever 'it' was. 

"Something outside ?" he repeated, disoriented. He sat up and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. "Did you hear something, Pikachu ?" He listened, but he couldn't hear anything, other than the now-gentle tap of rain against the windows. The wind had all but died off and the storm had either dissipated or moved farther inland. He reached for the flashlight and turned it on again. The room was empty. He shined the beam to the clock on the wall. 

Pikachu wished he could share the feeling he'd felt while he'd been asleep with Ash. It had been… so… so… 

Ash seemed to know anyway. There were times when Pikachu thought that Ash must be part Pokémon. Some trainers never even learned how to understand and talk to their Pokémon, except for yelling orders in battle. Ash _thought_ like a Pokémon sometimes. He was already reaching for his belt lined with his PokéBalls. 

---------- 

_I don't think I've seen seen Pikachu this upset before_, Ash thought as he pulled on his jacket and shoes. He was still sleepy, but it was rapidly fading. An extremely faint rumble of thunder reached his ears as he tied up the shoelaces and slipped the flashlight into his pocket. He didn't want Joy to know he was going outside in the middle of the night, in the rain, to look for something he wasn't sure was even there. 

So he didn't click the light on until they had passed the front doors of the PokéCenter. His hat protected his face from getting wet, but the rain was warm and soft anyway, almost like an apology for its earlier ferocity. Pikachu was sitting on his back legs, looking around. Finally, appearing to make up his mind, bounded across the tiny town square and into the woods. Ash chased after him, the flashlight beam bouncing as he ran. 

"Pikachu, wait up !" he called. He didn't want to get too far into the woods, because with the power in the town out, he couldn't follow the light back to the PokéCenter, and he didn't relish the thought of sleeping the rest of the night outside in the rain when there was a perfectly comfortable Center around. 

Pikachu led him deeper and deeper into the woods, and finally stopped and began sniffing at something on the ground. Ash lifted the flashlight. The area was covered in footprints, and they looked lost, like they'd wandered around. They certainly weren't his prints; they looked a lot more like they had been made by boots. Adult sized boots. Pikachu was sniffing at the edge of the stream, which had swollen to nearly double its size with the heavy rain. 

Ash began to feel uneasy. 

He wasn't sure why; maybe he was picking up on whatever was making Pikachu so upset. In any case, there had to be something more. Pikachu wouldn't have zapped Ash out of sleep and bed to look at a stream. He left the electric Pokémon at the water's edge and followed the footprints. One set stayed by the water's edge, and one pair, considerably smaller, wandered around a bit. He was about to turn and walk back to Pikachu when the beam of the flashlight caught something light coloured. He walked over to it and picked it up; it was a scrap of wet material, and it felt coarse and dirty, like a sack used for hauling garbage. 

_It might have been washed downstream from another town,_ Ash thought. He found another piece. And another. It looked as though someone had cut it with scissors and thrown chunks of it around the area. 

The rain had stopped, leaving everything quiet except for the rushing of the stream, which was no doubt fed from the sea a short distance away. Pikachu came over, and when he saw the material, he bristled. Electricity crackled around the sensitive spots on his cheeks. Now Ash knew for sure there was something wrong. 

_ ...Fearangerhurtrageterror..._

Raw emotions flooded through him. Ash blinked, and shook his head. Those weren't Pikachu's feelings. Pokémon, he'd learned, could project their feelings or emotions onto their trainers in extreme situations. He and Pikachu had shared several times, the last time being when he'd advanced to Third Level at the Pokémon League. It had been like being completely ecstatic two times over. But this, this was… 

_ ...Fear-anger-hurt-rage-terror..._

Pikachu darted past him, over to a huge tree on the edge of the stream. The water had washed a large part of the bank away, leaving the root system exposed. He wiggled into the roots and Ash lost sight of him for a moment. "Pikachu ?" he called, worried, getting on his hands and knees and shining the light into the tree's underside maze. 

There, near the back, were two light-coloured Pokémon. One, easily identified, was Pikachu. The other he couldn't see that well. The rest of the shredded sack was tucked in the back. He stretched out his arm to pull them both out of the tree roots -- and yelped as a very sharp set of teeth sank into his hand. He pulled back, and Pikachu instantly crackled with powerful electricity, but he didn't shock the other Pokémon in defense of Ash. The trainer examined his hand, which was now hurting but not serious. He could hear Pikachu talking to the other Pokémon, but the other Pokémon's answers were too quiet for him to hear, so he still didn't know what kind it was. 

As if Pikachu's coaxing had worked, Ash reached in again, and this time, got his hand around the other Pokémon. "Come on." He said, "That's a bad place to hide. The stream's getting higher, and this place will be underwater soon." Stretching out his fingers, he was able to wrap them around the other Pokémon. Fur, he noticed, soft fur. He bit down on the end of the flashlight and held it in his mouth so he had both hands free. He navigated the tree roots with the Pokémon in his hands, and pulled it free. Pikachu came scampering out seconds later. 

The flashlight dropped and rolled into the stream as Ash's mouth dropped open in shock. 

It was a Meowth, which explained the sharp teeth and the fur, but even without the flashlight Ash could see this Pokémon had been hurt badly, like it had been on the loosing end of many battles. It was covered in bites and scratches, was soaked right through and shivering violently. Still in shock, Ash shrugged out of his jacket and attempted to dry the poor thing off. So this was what had been upsetting Pikachu. Ash realized that, being a Pokémon, Pikachu had picked up on the Meowth's distress, and, inadvertently, passed it to Ash. 

He didn't know a lot about Meowths -- mostly just what Dexter, his PokéDex, had told him. The only one he'd really seen up close was Team Rocket's Meowth, who walked, talked and generally tried to cause trouble and definitely didn't act like a normal Pokémon. In light of that, he'd never really felt inclined to catch a Meowth. 

With a good deal of muddy water cleaned off the Meowth, (and soaked into Ash's jacket) he got a better look at the Pokémon… and realized it looked an awful lot like Team Rocket's Meowth. Ash looked around, wondering if this was a trap. But there was no one in sight, and no sound except for the rushing stream. Still… 

"Pi-pi-pi !" Pikachu said, nosing the Meowth. "Pikachu !"

"Me-owth." Answered the Pokémon weakly, and Ash felt a guilty flash of relief. If it had been the Rocket's Meowth, it would have said something like, "Gotcha" or "Twerp" or something like that. Not that he wouldn't have helped that particular Meowth or anything -- he'd just be a lot more careful how he did it. He wrapped the Meowth in his jacket and stood up. Nurse Joy would take care of everything. 

---------- 

Finding the Pokémon Center in the dark was hard enough, finding it without Pikachu would have been impossible. As it was, it took the pair a lot longer to get back than it had to venture into the woods, and to make matters worse, the Meowth had fainted somewhere along the line. 

"Nurse Joy, wake up !" Ash shouted as he burst through the front doors of the PokéCenter. Outside, the streetlights were still dark in the square, which meant the power was still off. A flashlight, similar to the one he had lost, beamed out of the back room. 

"Ash ? What's wrong ?" came the sleepy voice of Joy. It was, after all, the middle of the night. "What are you doing up ?" 

"There's a hurt Pokémon here." Ash said, "Where are the extra blankets ?" 

"A hurt Pokémon ?" Nurse Joy repeated, suddenly wide awake. "Under the counter." 

Ash got out some fresh blankets and untangled the Meowth from his jacket, which was soaking wet and covered in mud. He laid the blanket on top of the shivering Pokémon just as Nurse Joy came bustling out of her bedroom in the back, clothed in a fresh uniform. "Oh, my !" she said, shaken. "What happened ? He's not one of your Pokémon, is he ?" 

"No." Ash said, "Pikachu and I found him in the woods." 

Joy didn't ask what they'd been doing in the woods in the rain and the middle of the night, for which Ash was glad. He didn't think he could give her an answer she'd believe. Instead, he watched as she pulled out a roll of bandages and began treating the bites and scratches. "He might be wild," Joy said after a moment. "No identification, and I'm assuming no PokéBall ?" 

When Ash shook his head, she continued, "A lot of these look like injuries that a Meowth would MAKE, or maybe a Persian." She pointed as she worked. Ash looked; she was right, all the scratches were in sets of three, the bite marks round and deep. "They're already starting to heal, but I can't treat him here very well without power," she said. "Our best choice would be to put him in a temporary PokéBall and ---" 

The Meowth, who had woken so quietly as to be unnoticed, started flailing around at the mention of a PokéBall. Clearly, that was one word it understood and didn't appreciate. Maybe, thought Ash, it wasn't wild after all -- and he still couldn't get over how much he looked liked the Rocket's Meowth in the glow of the flashlight, albeit scruffy, injured, and muddy. Pikachu, who had leapt up onto the counter, was nearly knocked off by the cat's thrashing. 

"All right, all right !" Nurse Joy said, keeping out of the way in case the Pokémon decided to use Fury Swipes. "No PokéBall !" 

"Pika-pi !" Pikachu added, balancing on the edge of the counter. Almost sullenly, the Meowth stopped its struggles and quieted, half hiding under the blanket and glaring out at them as if daring one of them to be stupid enough to reach out a finger. Neither Ash nor Joy was enticed to do so. 

"What is a temporary PokéBall, anyway ?" Ash asked. 

"Sometimes they're called a TempBall." Joy said, but when Ash still looked lost, she continued. "A TempBall is a special kind of PokéBall that allows you to 'catch' a Pokémon without really 'catching' them. Veterinarians use them to keep Pokémon in for safety." 

"So... catching a Pokémon successfully without becoming their trainer." Ash said slowly. 

"Exactly. I should give you one, just in case you ever need it." Joy said. Letting the Meowth calm down for a moment, Joy found one and handed Ash a shiny new TempBall. Instead of the standard red top, it was grey on top and the usual white on the bottom. He examined it for a moment, then tucked it in his backpack. 

Nurse Joy approached the Meowth again, but continued talking to Ash. "We'll take him to the Pokémon Hospital in my truck. That way," she directed towards the Meowth, "There will be no PokéBalls involved. Sound alright ?" 

The Pokémon looked at Ash and opened his mouth, and that funny feeling tingled the teen again. But all the cat said was, "Mrrr-eowth." Just like a perfectly normal Pokémon. 

As Nurse Joy wrapped the blanket nicely around the Meowth and handed a second to Ash to replace the soaked jacket, Ash wished that he could shake the uneasy feeling. He looked down, and Pikachu didn't need to say anything to let his trainer know he felt the same way. 

The feeling just... stayed.


	3. I:II Forced Hand

**No Silver Lining - Part 1: The Foundling**

* * *

**Chapter 2: Forced Hand**

The trip to Cobalt City actually took less than an hour in the truck, though by the time they arrived the vehicle was so mud-covered that had Ash not known it was green before, he would have been unable to tell. Despite the lateness of the hour, Cobalt was bright and cheerful, completely oblivious to the darkened plight of its western neighbour. The rain had made everything smell clean and fresh, and Ash saw several wild Pokémon of common variety enjoying the night. Nurse Joy shut off the ignition and hurried the bundled Meowth into the Pokémon Center. Unlike most Centers, this one was also a qualified Pokémon Hospital as well. 

Ash, who had begun to doze in the front seat, was shaken awake by Pikachu. Between the uphill climb that day and all this trekking around tonight, he was starting to feel exhausted. He climbed down from the truck and looked around for something to concentrate on, to keep his mind off sleep… or lack thereof. 

In the distance, which he had missed on the drive in, rose a spire, on top of which was perched a black and purple PokéBall. "Cobalt Gym." Ash said, and Pikachu jumped onto Ash's shoulder to get a better view. Only lit by the lights below it, the structure was rather intimidating at night. He wondered what it looked like in the daytime, and then decided he would see for himself, in the morning. 

"Pi-pi. Pikachu !" said the electric Pokémon, and Ash obediently turned to go inside the Hospital. 

And the feeling still didn't go away. 

---------- 

"Oh, there you are, Ash." Nurse Joy said; one of the Nurse Joys, anyway. There were two of them now, standing beside each other. Ash's mind boggled as he tried to conceive of the size of family it must have taken to provide almost every city with a Joy. The Cobalt City's Joy stood beside her Chansey, which made it a lot easier to tell them apart. It was, then, the Mauvetown Joy who had spoken. 

"The Meowth should be fine in the morning." Cobalt's Nurse Joy said, and Chansey trilled its agreement. "You should get some sleep too. You and your Pikachu look like you could use it." 

Ash nodded and followed Chancy, who led him to a neat, out of the way overnight room with a bed. He was so tired, he didn't even bother to take off his shoes. He just crawled under the covers and was asleep in seconds. 

---------- 

Sunlight leaked through the miniscule curtained window, warming the room. It also crept across the blankets until it was shining on the face of the young teen sleeping there. Ash mumbled something into the pillow and rolled over. Unfortunately, he rolled into Pikachu, who had been snoozing against Ash's back. With a surprised "Pika !" he jumped down off the bed to avoid being flattened. 

Ash woke at that, blinking. "Pikachu ?" he asked, "It's morning already ?" 

"Pika-pi. Pikachu !" 

Ash raised his head and located a clock. "Almost 8 o'clock." He said, surprised. It felt like he had only gone to sleep a short while ago. His mind cleared and he realized where he was. "The Pokémon Hospital," he said aloud. 

He got out of bed, and went searching for his shoes, only to discover he was still wearing them and had gotten the bottom of the bed quiet dirty. Guiltily, he pulled the dirty blanket off the bed and put on a clean one from the shelf. He didn't know what to do with the muddy one so he left it folded on the edge of the bed. Then he went to find Nurse Joy. 

He didn't find her (either of them) but he did meet up with Chansey. The Pokémon was folding some large towels. 

"Hey, Chansey," Ash asked, "Where is -- are -- Nurse Joy ? Joys ?" he stumbled over the syntax. Chansey, however, seemed to understand. With Pikachu on his shoulder, the trainer followed the light pink Pokémon through the Hospital. 

They stopped in front of a large glass window, and behind it, they could see both Joys talking. When one of them (he thought it was the Mauvetown Joy, but he couldn't be sure) beckoned him inside, Chansey led him to a door and then bustled off down the hallway again. 

"Good morning !" The Joys chorused as he entered. It was a thoroughly eerie sound; like they were clones instead of relatives. "Did you sleep well ?" she asked. He was positive it was the Mauvetown Joy now. 

"Yeah, I did." Ash answered, and Pikachu voiced his own agreement. 

"We have good news." The other Joy said, "Meowth's going to be just fine after a few days rest. It's a good thing you found him when you did. Are you going to keep him ?" 

"Keep him ?" Ash repeated, confused. 

"Catch him ? Be his trainer ?" Joy supplied helpfully, wondering why Ash seemed so bewildered at the idea. "Most trainers catch wild Pokémon." She added, which irked Ash because he knew very well what trainers did, being one himself. Her question had just caught him off guard. 

"I… hadn't thought about it." Ash said, and Joy accepted the answer and went back to chatting. Ash rolled his eyes a bit but thought about it. He was already carrying 6 Pokémon with him -- Pikachu, Charizard, Squirtle, Bulbasaur, Tauros, and Lapras. He didn't really have room for another Pokémon, but that wasn't the problem. The problem was… 

Was… 

Was… 

He had to be honest with himself. He wouldn't be comfortable with a Rocket Meowth look-alike. And the nagging suspicion wouldn't go away that this was that same Meowth, even though he couldn't prove it. Yet. 

Though… he was beginning to get an idea. 

---------- 

Ash let himself into the Recovery Room as quietly as possible. He walked past the rows of mostly empty beds. The ones that were filled were occupied by extremely tired -- indeed, almost exhausted looking -- Pokémon. How strange. He wondered if it had anything to do with the Cobalt City Gym. None of them looked like they were wild Pokémon. 

The Meowth's bed was near the end of the row, and said Pokémon was sleeping. 

Ash sat down in the chair beside the bed and silently regarded the sleeping Pokémon. He'd already told Pikachu what he was planning, and he began now simply by being quiet for a few moments. 

"I was hoping you'd be awake," Ash started, speaking as though the Meowth could and was hearing him, "So I could say goodbye to you before I left. But I guess you need your rest." 

He glanced over, trying to gauge if it was working. Still no indication. 

"Nurse Joy says you're going to be just fine." 

No response. 

"You must have been in a rough battle to get beat up like you were." 

Nothing. He looked at Pikachu, who was silently encouraging him. Apparently, he thought that the Meowth was awake too, even if it was pretending not to be. 

"I hope you showed that other Meowth or Persian how tough you are." 

A subtle shift, enough for Ash to play his trump card. 

"Still, I can't believe Jessie and James would do so --" 

"'Dey didn't do this !" Meowth raged, popping out from underneath the bedcovers. He was still partially wrapped in bandages, where Nurse Joy had thought it prudent to leave them on for another day or so. Immediately though, he realized his mistake. His cover had been blown. 

"It is you !" Ash accused, angrily. He should have trusted his instincts all along. "What kind of trick are you trying to pull ?" 

But Meowth was already backing away from the pair, his claws extended. "Do 'dese look like tricks to you ?" he said bitterly, meaning the bandages, or more specifically, the injuries under them. 

"Pika ! Pika-pikachu !" the Pokémon said. 

"Yeah, well, now you know it's me." He had retreated as far away as possible without falling off the bed; and he was balanced right on the very edge. He was glaring at them distrustfully, but it was no different from the way they were looking at him. The only difference was, Meowth was having a harder time staying upright; the action was obviously straining. In the heat of his anger, though, Ash failed to notice. 

"No." said Ash, a tad ashamed, "They don't look like tricks." Then he recovered his equilibrium, his anger still hot. "But whatever it is you're up to, you won't get away with it !" he snapped. 

"Pi-pi. Pika-pi. Pikachu !" Pikachu's rebuke shocked Ash into surprised silence, and even though Meowth glared daggers at the other Pokémon, he gratefully sat down again. Pikachu had not failed to notice the cat's losing battle with gravity. The human trainer fell silent, a bit hurt that Pikachu had chastised him. 

"Pika-pika. Pi ?" Pikachu inquired. Where are Jessie and James ? 

"I don't know where 'dey are." Meowth answered. Ash listened, folding his arms over his chest. He understood Pikachu perfectly and since Meowth was speaking English, he was finally getting both sides of a Pokémon conversation. 

"Pi-pi-chu-pikachu ?" Why not go find them ? 

"I.... No, I… can't." Prompted by both Ash and Pikachu's startled look, he haltingly added, "I'm not welcome 'dere anymore." 

Ash spoke up. "Well, if Jessie and James didn't do this, who did ?" 

Meowth fell silent again. After it became clear he had no intention of answering, Pikachu jumped back onto Ash's shoulder. Ash asked the next question for both of them -- all three of them, truthfully. "What are you going to do now ?" 

The look Meowth gave them was one of sad bewilderment, as though he hadn't considered that until now.


	4. I:III Seeing Isn't Believing

**No Silver Lining - Part 1: The Foundling**

* * *

**Chapter 3: Seeing Isn't Believing**

"Nurse Joy, can you tell me about the Gym Leader here in Cobalt City ?" Ash asked, walking down the hallway with her. Chansey was ahead of them, checking the charts tacked to the doorways to make sure that every Pokémon in the hospital was happy and being well cared for. 

"Sicora ? She's a strong trainer." Nurse Joy said pleasantly. Obviously her mind was on other things. 

"Anything else ?" Ash persisted. Joy smiled. 

"You'll have to go and see for yourself. We'll have a room ready for your Pokémon. Just in case," she added. 

Ash gulped. 

---------- 

The jeep that Nurse Joy had driven from Mauvetown was gone when Ash finally left the PokéHospital. He assumed she had gone back to Mauvetown to help get the power back online, but was rather sorry he had missed saying goodbye to her. 

Cobalt City was actually rather large, and very busy in the midmorning. Pikachu ran ahead, forcing Ash to hurry to keep up. People and Pokémon were everywhere. Shops advertised their wares, restaurants spilled enticing smells onto the sidewalk, but Ash had eyes only for the looming black and purple PokéBall that crowned the Cobalt City Gym. 

Pikachu was waiting for Ash at the doors of the Gym, which were oval and grey coloured with black swirls like spilled ink decorating them. Ash pushed on one carefully and it swung open. "Come on, Pikachu," He said, and stepped inside. 

It was dark, and his eyes took a moment to adjust. There was a desk like a receptionist might sit at, but there was no one there. A potted plant occupied one corner of the room, and there were nicely padded chairs along the wall facing the desk. Several abstract paintings hung on the walls, though he had no idea what they were supposed to be. On the far side of the room was another set of oval doors -- but these had no handles. Ash walked over and pushed against them, but they didn't budge. They were locked, or blocked. There was no one in the room, and Ash hesitantly took a seat in one of the chairs. Pikachu jumped up onto the chair next to him. 

Several minutes passed, then more. After about 20 minutes, Ash was starting to get impatient. There was nothing to do, no books to read, and the paintings had already confused him and still made no sense. 

"Pika," sighed Pikachu. 

"Come on, Pikachu," Ash said, standing up and walking back over to the doors. He knocked on them. "Hello ?" he called, then louder, "Can anybody hear me ? Is anyone there ? I'm here for a Pokémon battle !" 

The doors swung open. 

Ash blinked. "Well, that was easy," he murmured. He held out his arm and Pikachu clambered up it to sit in his favourite spot on Ash's shoulder. It was dark in this room too, but there was a spiral staircase leading upwards. Little gold lights marked both edges of the staircase, and the pinpricks of light looked like an enormous double helix rising into the air. 

He mounted the first step and took them in steady, even strides. After all, there was no sense in tiring himself out. As he climbed, Ash reviewed everything he knew about the Gym Leader, Sicora. He knew she used psychic Pokémon, and that…. 

That… 

That… 

That… was about it, actually. 

When he reached the top of the staircase, the room brightened. Gold lights set at regular intervals along the walls brightened at his entrance and lit the area. He was standing on one end of a Battle Field. And he still hadn't seen anybody. 

"Hello !" Ash called loudly, and Pikachu jumped down from his shoulder to sit beside his right leg. 

"There's no need to yell, I heard you come in." 

Ash spun around but there was no one there. "Where are you ?" he said. 

"Right in front of you," said the voice. It was female, playful. 

"I don't see you." Ash answered, squinting. 

"Look harder." Even as she said it, Ash began to perceive her. She was fading into view, like a photo slowly being developed. Ash gaped without meaning to. This must be Sicora. He knew she trained psychic Pokémon, but he hadn't realized that she, too, would have similar mental abilities. Though, as he thought about it, he realized it made sense. She must have been standing in front of him the whole time. 

"Actually, I was walking upstairs with you. It's good exercise." The girl said. No, not girl -- but not a woman either; older than he was but not an adult. She folded her arms across her silver and purple T-shirt; it matched the streak of purple dyed in her otherwise black hair. He could almost hear Brock's voice, eagerly introducing himself, and for a moment, Ash really missed his friends. 

"Did you read my mind ?" Ash asked instead, feeling a bit dismayed at the prospect. 

"No, that's what most trainers think at first. I just have a good talent for reading people's expressions." 

When she seemed as solid as she was going to get, Ash said, "I'm Ash Ketchum, from Pallet Town, and I'm here to challenge you to a battle for a Gym Badge." 

"Well, my name is Sicora, and I accept your challenge, Ash-Ketchum-from-Pallet-Town." She laughed. "Are you sure you want to battle right now ?" 

"Absolutely." Ash said, and Pikachu added his agreement. It had been a while since they had faced a Gym Leader, but they were both ready and eager to do so again. 

"As you say," Sicora said agreeably, and snapped her fingers. It seemed unusually loud. Every one of the gold lights plunged themselves into darkness. Everything went black, and Ash couldn't even see Pikachu at his feet. 

"Hey, what's going on ?" Ash yelled. 

"Patience," Sicora replied, and her voice sounded the same; she hadn't moved from her previous position. As Ash watched, a speck of light appeared, this one silvery. Then another appeared, then another. Hundreds of silver specks winked into existence, looking for all the world like… stars. 

Like they were standing among the stars, as though someone or something had formed a Battle Field from the very night sky itself. It was extraordinary. The 'stars' even twinkled at them… 

"Pikachu." The Pokémon said reverently, and Ash tore his eyes away from the spectacle, and looked over at Sicora, who was watching them. 

"What do you think ?" She asked. 

"It's beautiful." Ash said, And eerie. he added, and then after a pause, "But I still want to battle !" 

"All right, then. Such enthusiasm… We'll choose two Pokémon each. For my first, I call… Alakazam !" Sicora called, and threw her PokéBall. A beam of red light released the powerful psychic Pokémon, who raised both his spoons, took a fighting stance, and said, "Ka-zam !" 

A powerful opponent. Alakazam was the final step for Abra, and the evolved form of Kadabra. His mind flashed back to the battle between he and Sabrina, in Saffron City. 

"Pikachu, go !" Ash said, and the electric Pokémon ran forward to meet his opponent. Alakazam was probably Sicora's most powerful Pokémon, as Pikachu was Ash's; it was the best match. Ash took a careful step; the… floor ? ground ? looked like stars but was completely solid. 

"Match start. Alakazam, hypnosis !" Sicora shouted, and Alakazam glowed with a gold light. The glow drifted smoke-like around Pikachu, who blinked rapidly, trying to fight off the rapid drowsiness. 

"Pikachu, shake it off !" Ash shouted, "Use Agility !" 

Instantly, Pikachu was running at Alakazam, dodging this way and that. He charged into Alakazam but was thrown back by the psychic ward surrounding the larger Pokémon. 

"Psychic Wave !" Sicora called, and Alakazam crossed it's spoons together. A spectrum of light exploded towards Pikachu, who leapt out of the way. The multicoloured light slammed into a 'wall' and dissipated harmlessly. 

"Pikachu ! Thunderbolt !" 

---------- 

_ He has admirable tenacity_, Sicora thought. She saw a lot of trainers pass through this Field, but rare were the ones who battled because they truly loved to battle. Most were just interested in winning a badge and moving on. 

Pikachu's Thunderbolt attack lanced across the Field and struck Alakazam straight on. The psychic Pokémon raised it's spoons to outlast, but could not withstand the sheer power of raw electric energy. The mental shield it created burst like a popped bubble. "Ka-zam…" it said weakly, sinking to one knee. 

"Alakazam, Heal." Sicora ordered, and the Pokémon drew inward for strength and swiftly healed the injuries Pikachu had inflicted. But the repair cost valuable time, and Ash was already compensating with another attack. 

"Thundershock !" 

_**"CHUUUUUUU !" **_

A generated tempest radiated like a bright corona around the diminutive Pokémon. Electricity rebounded off everyone and everything, making even the trainers shield their eyes from the spectacle. The 'stars' flashed brightly in response, illuminating everything in a photo-negative light, and then reversed again back to normal. Astonished, Sicora watched as the thunderous energy died off, leaving Alakazam unconscious and charred. She was also quite impressed; that was an extremely powerful Pikachu ! 

"Alakazam, return." She called, holding the PokéBall. The powerful Pokémon disappeared in a beam of red light to rest. Sicora lobbed another Ball into the air. "I choose you… Ghastly !" 

The PokéBall split to release Ghastly, who exclaimed, "Ghh-hhhastly !" 

"Ghastly, Confusion !" Sicora ordered, and the Pokémon complied, releasing waves of psychic energy. Pikachu stopped, twitched, and shook his head. 

"Pikachu !" Ash yelled, as his Pokémon looked around dizzily. 

"Piii…" Pikachu said, unable to shake off the effects. 

"Now, Ghastly ! Steal Pikachu's strength !" Sicora called triumphantly, and the ghost Pokémon complied, settling it's gaseous form overtop of Pikachu. It hovered there for a few seconds, and then floated away. Pikachu collapsed with a weak sigh. 

---------- 

"Pikachu !" Ash cried, leaving the trainer's accustomed place and running across the Field. He fell to his knees and scooped the electric Pokémon into his arms. "Are you all right ?" 

"Pika." His best friend sighed faintly. His cheek spots were dark, his yellow colouring was sickly-pale, and his eyes seemed bigger than usual. 

Ash thought, _He looks just like the Pokémon at the PokéHospital. This must have been what happened to them._ And Nurse Joy's friendly offer to have a room ready for his Pokémon when he returned came back to him. He hugged Pikachu tight as he stood up. "You did great, Pikachu." Ash said. 

Sicora was watching the pair with a slight smile. Ash burned; how dare she laugh at them ! He almost, _almost_ threw Charizard's PokéBall, but didn't. As much he wanted to continue the battle with Sicora, he wanted to make sure Pikachu was going to be ok, and he couldn't do that and battle at the same time. A few years ago, he would have been so furious, he would have thrown Charizard's PokéBall without a second though. Now, though… 

"Do you want to continue ?" she called, as if reading his mind again. He wasn't about to rule out that possibility. Ghastly hovered expectantly between the two trainers. 

Ash ground his teeth. He hated to admit he didn't want to. "No." he practically growled. 

Wordlessly, Sicora recalled Ghastly. The starry Battle Field dissolved in a haze.


	5. I:IV Inner Strength

**No Silver Lining - Part 1: The Foundling**

* * *

****

Chapter 4: Inner Strength 

Ash had been surprised when Sicora had invited him to stay at the Gym for a while. Pikachu looked better but still tired, so Ash carried him up the huge spiral staircase. Sicora explained that it went all the way to the top of the Gym, and that she lived most of the year on the top floor. 

"Where else do you go ?" Ash asked. 

"A couple of weeks a year I take off and go up to the mountains. I do this all year -- I need a break sometimes." Sicora answered, pushing open the doors. A tawny coloured bundle of energy flung itself at them. Sicora caught it, swung it around once, and settled it into her arms, laughing. Ash got a good look at it. 

It was an Abra, and a really tiny one at that. It clung to Sicora like a lost child and exclaimed, "Raa-ra-raaaa." which Ash found odd because most Abra's usually didn't say anything. He opened Dexter, his PokéDex, and pointed it at Abra. 

_"Abra. The Psychic Pokémon. Abra are shy, and has powerful psychic abilities, and are often difficult to catch. It relies on Teleport to move itself to safety."_

Ash dubiously put Dexter away. This was, quite possibly, the smallest looking Abra he'd ever seen (not that he'd seen many of them, they were notoriously elusive) and it must have showed on his expression because Sicora chuckled. 

"She's still very young." Sicora said, and then peered at the jacket pocket that now held the PokéDex. "That's one of Professor Oak's inventions, isn't it ? How did you get one ?" 

"He gave it to me when I first became a trainer," Ash answered. 

"That's right, you _did_ say Pallet Town. Now I know who you are. You're the one who helped Sabrina, aren't you ?" 

"I… guess so." Ash said, confused. "I battled her, I mean, but -- hey, how do you know about that ?" 

"Oh, Sabrina and I are… friendly rivals. We keep in touch." Sicora said. Ash wondered just how friendly this rivalry was. Neither one seemed like the pen-pal type to Ash. "Would you like something to drink ?" 

"Yeah, that'd be great." Ash said, perking up. Pikachu, tired of being carried around, squirmed until Ash set him down on the table. 

"Pika-pika. Pikachu." The Pokémon said, apparently feeling recovered. Ash absently scratched him behind the right ear. When Sicora disappeared into what Ash assumed to be the kitchen, with the Abra still clinging to her, he took a moment to look more carefully around the room. 

There were tall, ovaline windows set a few meters apart, casting bright spots of light on the floor. High above him, in what must have been the crest of the enormous PokéBall, there was a huge skylight, which filtered down sunlight and brightened the room considerably. The main room, where he stood, seemed to double as both living room and eating area. There was a fireplace on the far wall, with pictures on the mantle. Interested, Ash took a look at them. Most of them were pictures of Abra's, all wild, and then there were a few at the end of the mantle of people Ash didn't recognize. There was also a strange looking trophy -- at least, Ash assumed that's what is was. 

"Here we are." Sicora said, re-appearing with a tray, which she set down on the table. The Abra she had carried was nowhere in sight. 

"Where'd she go ?" he asked. Sicora pointed at the floor near his feet. He looked down but saw nothing. Tentatively, he reached down and patted the air around his leg. He encountered something solid, and then the Abra re-appeared with a pop and went scampering back to Sicora, crying, "Raa-raaaaa-raa-ra-raaaaa." 

Sicora just laughed and handed Ash a cup filled with steaming tea. He took it, blew on it to cool the liquid, and took a sip. The Cobalt City Gym leader offered Pikachu a PokéSnack, which the Pokémon took with a happy exclamation, apparently feeling much better. 

"Did you take these pictures ?" Ash asked, after he had taken a sip. He indicated the wild Abra's in the photographs. 

"Yes, I did." Sicora answered as she poured herself a cup of tea. "It may surprise you to find that I did not always aspire to be a Gym Leader. When I was much younger, I wanted to become an Abra trainer. I spent a whole summer away from home, on my own, looking for Abra's by wandering around the mountains. The Alakazam I have now is the very first Pokémon I ever had." She smiled fondly. "And it was about that time when I discovered I had similar psychic abilities." 

"Sabrina discovered hers when she was a little girl." Ash recalled, from his visit to Saffron City. 

"Well, Sabrina had a family that encouraged it." Sicora responded. She reached down and scratched the young Abra's ear. "And as you can see, I still have a soft spot for them." 

"What about that trophy ?" Ash asked, pointing to the specified object. 

"That, I won at the Misao Competition." Upon seeing his blank look, she added, "It's a special gathering for psychic trainers only. I go every year, and so does Sabrina." 

"Does that trophy mean you won ?" Ash inquired. 

Sicora chuckled, "No -- I placed, but I didn't win. Beat Sabrina, though, she wasn't too happy about that. There are trainers a lot stronger than I am competing there." For a moment, her expression turned both wistful and lonely, but she forced a smile and added, "But maybe one day." 

"What about your Ghastly ?" Ash asked. 

"Ghastly took to haunting my Gym shortly after I moved in." Sicora answered wryly, "And was determined not to leave. So we came to the arrangement that we would help each other out. And besides, he's good company. Now… tell me about yourself, Ash-Ketchum-from-Pallet-Town…" 

---------- 

Chansey was making it's afternoon rounds as usual, checking the Pokémon's charts, refreshing blankets and bandages as needed. There were not many Pokémon at the Hospital at the moment. Several trainers had come to collect their Pokémon this morning, leaving only a handful left. "Chansey, chansey." It trilled, looking into each room. Other than a snarly Growlithe, there had been nothing to warrant any concern. 

"Chansey, chansey !" The nurse Pokémon chirped, peeking into Meowth's room. Then it chirped, "Chansey ?" in confusion, because the bed was empty. It trundled into the room, lifting the blankets. The bandages were there, albeit sliced. It was clear how they had been taken off. "Chansey, chansey," It repeated, checking the whole room to no avail. Then it hurried off to find Nurse Joy. 

---------- 

A full pot and a half of tea later, Ash and Pikachu had recounted a brief narrative of their adventures. Sicora seemed especially impressed when he'd told her that they'd advanced to the Third Level of the Pokémon League. There were 3 rounds in each Level, 4 Levels. Ash had nearly come face to face with the two best trainers before being eliminated. 

"Sounds like you've become quite the trainer, Ash." Sicora said. Abra had returned and was sleeping quietly on the couch, curled up in a ball, which Ash thought was deceptively cute. In the span of a few hours, he'd watch the Pokémon teleport a number of knick-knacks around the room, including the entire tea set. (Sicora had drummed her fingers on the table until it had been sheepishly returned.) 

"Maybe this year, we'll win." Ash answered enthusiastically. 

"That League doesn't commence for almost another year, isn't that right ?" Sicora asked. Ash nodded, and she continued, "Then I suppose North Isles will be good practice for you." 

"North Isles ?" The teen repeated. 

"That is why you want my badge, isn't it ?" Sicora replied, "Don't you know ?" 

"Know what ?" 

"Ohh..." Sicora said, as if finally understanding. "So you don't know. Well, that explains it, then. The 'North Isles' is a Gym League in the Zephyr Islands." She stood and went to one of the ovaline windows in the room. From this height, the coast was visible. "See that little dark patch over there ?" 

"Yeah." Ash answered. Pikachu jumped onto his shoulder. 

"That's Aamrus Island. Here, it's on the map." Sicora said, and opened one of the desk drawers. She rifled around in it for a moment, and then pulled out a folded, poster-sized map and spread it on the table. "Here we are." 

It was, Ash noticed immediately, a section that was on his map, right up in the northwest corner. But on his map, the circle of islands was tiny, almost not noticeable. Now he could see them clearly. A rough circle of 6 islands, grouped around a larger landmass, and nothing else in any direction for miles. Sicora traced a line back to the mainland from the closest island. "Here, that's Aamrus, that we can see from the window." 

"Pika-pi ! Pikachu !" Pikachu added empathetically. Ash was beginning to get excited as well. A Gym League ? Right here in the area ? 

"When does it begin ?" he asked. 

"North Isles commences at the end of the summer -- a little more than 2 months from now." Sicora answered. "But..." she cautioned with a smile, "You'll need MY badge to get in. An entrance test, if you will. Which means, Ash Ketchum -- you'll be wanting a re-match." 

"You bet I will !" Ash said. Sicora just smiled knowingly and took the tea set back into the other room. 

"You'd better get back to the Pokémon Center," she said when she returned. "There's a nasty storm on the way." 

Ash looked incredulously out the window. "But there's not a cloud in the sky !" he protested. And there wasn't. It was looking to be a beautiful night. 

"I know," Sicora answered. 

---------- 

Ash stared glumly out the window of the PokéCenter at the pounding rain outside. The storm had rolled in shortly just as he had returned, large drops splattering on the ground as he had hurried inside. Now it was raging full force, precisely the 'nasty storm' Sicora had predicted. 

He had looked up North Isles League when he'd gotten back. There were 6 islands circling the large one, and the whole thing was referred to as the Zephyr Islands. Each small island was the home of a different Gym, and then the League itself was held on the main island at the end of the summer. The information he'd found was very vague, though, probably to prevent trainers from having too much of an advantage. But in several places he'd looked, he found that the North Isles Gym League was sometimes called the Elemental League. 

"So what do you think, Pikachu ?" Ash said, and the Pokémon had looked up from his snack. Ash had already eaten, food courteously provided by the PokéCenter. 

"Pika ?" The electric Pokémon answered. 

"This North Isles League. I don't know if I want to stay in the area until the end of the summer." A few years ago, he would have jumped at the chance. A lot had changed in only a few years. 

_**"Ring-ring-ring ! Ring-ring-ring ! Phone call ! Phone call ! Ring-ring-ring ! Ring-ring-ring ! Phone call ! Phone call !"**_

The mechanical voice of the videophone interrupted their conversation. Ash walked over to the desk and pushed the answer button. Nurse Joy's face appeared on the screen. She looked worried. 

"What's wrong, Nurse Joy ?" Ash said. 

_"I'm calling to let you know,"_ Joy answered, distressed, _"That the Meowth you brought in earlier has disappeared. Chansey and I think he may have run away."_

A crash of thunder momentarily flickered the connection, and Ash looked outside at the storm. It was a terrible night for anyone to be out, human or Pokémon. 

"Thank you, Nurse Joy." Ash said slowly.

----------

The Meowth in question was huddled under a small bridge just outside town. The bridge had been designed to allow travelers to cross the creek that ran parallel to the town, but they hadn't built it high enough and every time it rained, water washed all over it and so no one used it. They used the bigger bridge further downstream, because it didn't flood. 

"I hate water ! Especially wet water !" Meowth complained loudly, but unlike every other time he made this protest known, Jessie and James weren't around to tell him to be quiet (James) to grin and bear it (Jessie), to stop-whining-before-Jessie-hits-you-with-a-fan (James) and to be hit with a fan (Jessie). 

Instead, he was answered by a crash of thunder and another douse of very wet water from the swollen creek. He sighed. He would not cry, he would _**not**_. 

And he didn't. 

But that didn't seem to help.


	6. I:V Rematch Revelations

**No Silver Lining - Part 1: The Foundling**

* * *

****

Chapter 5: Rematch Revelations 

Morning dawned on Cobalt City in the form of a glorious sunrise. It drenched everything in warm sunlight and brightened the moods of everyone who saw it. A nice morning had a way of doing that for people and Pokémon. Everything was fresh and new and pleasant. 

Ash had been up early and he and Pikachu were finishing breakfast while Ash tried to decide whether to try for the North Isles League. He stood and went to the window, leaned on the sill, and watched the people of Cobalt go about their business for a few minutes. 

"Why don't we win Sicora's badge and then decide ?" Ash finally answered his own question. 

"Pika." Pikachu added his agreement without really listening. 

"Pikachu ? Is something wrong ?" Ash asked as he sat down. 

"Pi." The Pokémon answered negatively, perking up a bit. He finished his PokéChow meal and looked at Ash, who suddenly grinned. 

"Come on, Pikachu. We've got a badge to win !" 

---------- 

This time, Ash and Pikachu didn't wait in the reception room of Cobalt Gym. It was still empty, so he pushed open the doors and went straight to the staircase without pause. He also took the stairs a lot faster this time, and Pikachu bounded up the stairs beside him, just as eager for a rematch. When he reached the Battle Field level, made not of stars but simply of a normal floor, he was slightly more winded than before, and caught his breath before calling, "Hello ! Hello ?" 

"That took less time than expected." Sicora commented from behind him. Ash whirled around to face her. 

"Don't do that !" he said, startled. _Does she always intentionally startle people ?! _

"Are you here for my badge, Ash ?" Sicora asked. She was wearing a similar outfit, except her shirt was dark blue today. The dyed lock of hair had changed colour too, and matched her shirt with blue today, instead of purple. 

"Yes, we are !" Ash replied, enthusiastically. He wondered if she was going to re-create the starry battlefield. 

"It's usually only impressive the first time." Sicora answered, which furthered his suspicion that she was indeed reading his mind, despite what she may have said. Just to be sure, he imagined him winning this battle. And across the field, Sicora smirked. "We'll see." 

"Let's battle." Ash said confidently, and the match began as Sicora threw her first PokéBall, which released Alakazam, completely recovered. Ash was ready; he'd thought about this practically all night. 

"Go, Charizard !" Ash yelled, releasing the evolved Pokémon. Charizard solidified on the Battle Field. _Please, please, listen to me,_ Ash thought. Even after all this time, his control over Charizard was sometimes shaky. Most of the time, it wasn't a problem, but every now and then… 

"Use your flamethrower !" he ordered, and Charizard snuffed a hint of fire through his nose but didn't move. Ash felt his stomach turn over once and settle. "Charizard !" he yelled, frustrated. 

"Alakazam, psybeam. Let's show this weakling Pokémon that it should keep its flame out of our Gym." Sicora ordered coolly. She didn't sound nearly as nice as she had yesterday, Ash gulped mentally. 

Charizard's head snapped up at the insult and he roared thunderously. Ash groaned. Great… now Charizard wouldn't listen to me at all, he thought. The Pokémon's powerful wings stirred up a whirlwind of dust as he took to the air, still roaring in fury. Completely ignoring Ash now, he loosed a huge blast of fire at Alakazam. 

A blue-gold bubble encased the psychic Pokémon, and when the fire burned away, Alakazam was untouched. This only served to make Charizard angrier, and he circled once, lining up for another shot. Alakazam released the psybeam that had been gathered earlier and focused on the flying form. With a blast, the energy exploded outward, but Charizard, having never been a slow or clumsy flier, barrel-rolled and dodged the blast. It passed through the ceiling and vanished harmlessly. 

Ash was determined to try anyway. "Charizard, use Ember attack !" he called. He had to yell to be heard. Sicora hadn't moved yet, nor had she called out any further orders. _At least_, Ash realized, _not aloud_. She could very well be talking psychically to Alakazam. 

For a moment, it looked like Charizard was going to listen -- then he turned his head and roared a gust of fire towards Ash. The teen yelped and jumped out of the way. Pikachu leapt in the other direction, and the flames charred the spot they had been standing in. "Charizard !" he shouted, part annoyed and part embarrassed. In a Gym Battle, no less, Ash thought glumly. How… humiliating. 

That, apparently, had been enough for Sicora to see. "Hey, Charizard !" she taunted, "_I'm_ the one who insulted you. How come you haven't flamed me yet ?" 

"Pikachu !" The electric Pokémon cried, from his spot beside Ash. You'll -- 

"No, don't --" Ash started to warn her at the same time, but Charizard roared his defiance at the Gym Leader, drowning out the rest of their warnings. He landed and used his flamethrower at her. Ash grabbed Charizard's PokéBall and hurled it. "Return !" he cried, and the ball flew across the Gym, striking the flame Pokémon on the right wing -- 

-- and falling to the ground, still empty. Ash made an exclamation of shock. 

When the flamethrower struck, Ash lost sight of Sicora for a moment. "Ka-zam !" Her Pokémon took a step forward, before realizing something was amiss. Ash noticed it too; the flames weren't…. shaped right, like they'd been wrapped across something round. In fact, they were still curving. 

Sicora came into view behind the flames. Ash couldn't tell if it was the backwash of colour from the fire or if she was actually glowing, but in either case she was awfully bright. She had both her hands out in front of her and was pushing the fire right back at Charizard. Wide-eyed, Ash watched the Gym Leader go head-to-head with one of his most powerful Pokémon. It was not as easy for her, Ash realized, as he'd first thought. The flame might be blocked but the heat was not, and it shimmered the air like a mirage. Her black boots left little scraps of rubber where they'd nearly melted. Suddenly, like a turning tide, the fire reversed course and consumed the Pokémon from sight for a moment. 

One vicious flap from the huge wings dispelled the remaining flames, and then everything went rather quiet for a moment as the two just looked at each other, eyes locked. Sicora's lips moved but she didn't say anything out loud, and then Charizard snorted flame, and that seemed to be the end of the silent conversation. 

"Ash." Sicora said, without breaking eye contact with Charizard, "Perhaps you'd better use another Pokémon." 

Ash picked up Charizard's PokéBall again. "Charizard, return." 

The flame Pokémon disappeared in a beam of red light. Ash felt relief wash over him. "I thought it was broken," he said, and examined it. There didn't appear to be anything wrong with it, though. Alakazam teleported over to Sicora, who had pulled off one of her boots and was examining it dubiously. There wasn't much left of it, and her shirt had not escaped unscathed either. She was down to half a sleeve out of a pair of them. She did not look as though she had just faced down a powerful Pokémon, though -- most people would not be so worried about their footwear. 

"Are you all right ?" Ash asked as he came over, worried. He shrunk Charizard's PokéBall with a touch and put it back on his belt. 

"Oh, I'm fine," Sicora answered, putting her boot back on. "First your Pikachu and then your Charizard." She chuckled, "You have some very, very strong Pokémon, Ash." 

"Thanks." Ash said, feeling strange. He guessed all Gym Leaders were a little eccentric and Sicora a little more so than others. 

"Alakazam !" Her Pokémon insisted, looking up at her. Sicora smiled and recalled her friend to a PokéBall. 

"Here you go, Ash." Sicora said, holding out her hand to him. "Congratulations on earning the Illusia Badge." 

Ash watched as a badge solidified in her palm, a diamond shaped one with grey swirls in it, like the decorations downstairs. Tentatively, he took it and held it up to the light. The grey swirls moved like smoke. "Illusia Badge," he repeated, and then protested, "But we didn't finish either of our battles !" 

"Of course we did. Your Pikachu beat Alakazam," Sicora replied matter-of-factly. 

"You said a two-on-two battle," Ash recalled suspiciously. 

"Yes, well, I think Charizard's and my battle is considered a draw." Sicora said, as though confiding in him. 

"That wasn't a battle !" Ash said, and then he closed his mouth. She _had_ just given him a Gym Badge. 

"Sure it was." Sicora winked, "You see, Sabrina _battles_ with Pokémon. I battle _with_ Pokémon." 

Ash looked at her oddly. "You make your own battle rules every time, don't you ?" 

"Of course I do," She answered, and that was that. 

---------- 

It had taken him nearly an hour of persistent grooming to get his fur back in some semblance of order, and another hour to convince himself that he really had to get out from underneath the bridge. What finally got him moving was his stomach; he hadn't had anything to eat in days, it seemed to him. He'd been too tired to eat at the PokéHospital, wanting only to sleep and forget what happened. 

Only sleep had come after the longest time. 

Realizing that he would have to go back into town to get something to eat, he followed the main road back the way he had come the previous night. He passed an older man walking the opposite direction and received a strange stare. Meowth realized that he was looking at him oddly because he was walking on two feet. He never really thought about it anymore, because Jessie and James were used to it. 

_**Had **been used to it_, his mind ruthlessly insisted on correcting. Undecided, he paused, staring despondently at the road into town. 

After a moment, misery won out over hunger, and Meowth retreated to his place underneath the bridge. 

---------- 

Ash kept opening his jacket lapel to look at the Illusia Badge. Every time he looked at it, it looked a little bit different. Sicora had invited him to her Gym's top floor again and was sipping from a fresh cup of tea. 

"So." She said, "Should I warn the League that Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town in coming their way ?" 

Ash grinned, which made him look a bit younger. "Yeah !" he answered, "Right, Pikachu ?" He looked over at his best Pokémon friend, but Pikachu wasn't even paying attention. "Pikachu ?" Ash repeated, concerned. 

"I think your Pikachu's worried about something." Sicora observed. 

"Worried about something ?" Ash echoed, and Pikachu looked up at him. "Is something wrong, Pikachu ? Are you feeling ok ?" 

"Pika." The Pokémon answered affirmatively, feeling perfectly healthy. 

"You do want us to enter the League, right ?" Ash tried. 

"Pika." Pikachu repeated. Another affirmative. 

"Then what's wrong ?" Ash was out of ideas. 

No answer. Ash looked at Sicora and shrugged. 

"Perhaps it's someone instead of something ?" The Gym Leader offered. 

---------- 

Pikachu sat quietly as Ash tried to guess the source of his distress. How could he say anything ? When Sicora correctly guessed that it was someone instead of something, and Ash only looked more confused, Pikachu felt even worse. _He honestly had no clue, did he ?_

Ash got down on one knee and held out his arm. Knowing the gesture of friendship and appreciating it, Pikachu leapt easily into his accustomed place on Ash's shoulder. Ash was trying to understand. He knew that. 

"Pikachu." The teen said, "You're not mad at me for something, are you ?" 

"_Pi_ !" Pikachu answered quickly, negatively. Of course not. How could he be ? 

Ash looked helpless. "Then what's wrong ?" he asked. "You can tell me," he coaxed, and Pikachu sighed, because he'd always been able to tell Ash everything, so it shouldn't be this hard to tell him this... 

"Let me try." Sicora finally said. She smiled reassuringly at Pikachu and said, "If you want me to stop, all you have to do is tell me, all right ?" 

When the Pokémon cautiously nodded his agreement, Sicora didn't appear to do anything more than just sit there. Her eyes opened a bit wider than usual, and then Pikachu heard a soft echo in his mind, like someone knocking quietly on a door. 

---------- 

Sicora's eyes were open but she did not see anything through them; she did not blink, and she and to remind herself to breathe. Instead, elsewhere, she was settling her presence carefully into Pikachu's mind. It was something that she did with all of her psychic Pokémon, but Pikachu was not one of them, not of the 'right' type. She issued a mental image of knocking to show Pikachu that she was not here to intrude. And, sure enough, the Pokémon tentatively 'answered' the 'door' and let her enter. _It was a delicate thing_, Sicora mused, _moving through a mind that was not accustomed to it._ It had taken her almost a year to gain Abra's trust to do this. 

Once Pikachu had admitted her, she began by re-affirming that it was indeed worry the Pokémon was feeling -- it was. She formed a feeling of inquisitiveness, and was rewarded with a feeling of comfort and safety. Communicating like this wasn't so much words as it was emotions and images. Pikachu, therefore, was worried about someone's safety. 

Sicora made an image of Ash -- Pikachu responded negatively. Not worried about Ash's safety. Sicora showed an image of Pikachu himself, but another negative. Not worried for his own safety. Sicora guessed one of Ash's other Pokémon, but Pikachu surged more negatives with a flash of frustration, and Sicora backed off for a moment. She was ready to leave if Pikachu dismissed her, but he didn't. Not yet. 

She tried again after a few seconds, another feeling of curiosity but patience. Whatever Pikachu was hiding it was obviously something he was not eager to share… 

---------- 

Ash was getting worried when Sicora hadn't moved or even blinked for several minutes. Pikachu was sitting next to him and was motionless as well. Ash knew Sicora wouldn't intentionally hurt Pikachu, but he still fretted because truthfully, all this psychic power was… intimidating. So he felt a flash of relief when she finally closed her eyes, shook her head, and drew a long breath. Then she opened her eyes again and smiled. 

"Everything's all right," she reassured him. "Sometimes I feel a bit dizzy afterwards, that's all. Nothing to worry about." 

"Did it work ?" Ash asked, and Sicora got a pensive look on her face. 

"Well... yes," she answered, "Pikachu is worried over another Pokémon, and he's upset because you're not." 

It was like a dam releasing a flood for Ash. In an instant, he knew exactly what Pikachu was thinking about. "Pikachu." Ash said softly, "Is this about Meowth ?" 

"Pika." 

Ash opened his mouth to say something else, thought about it, and paused. Sicora, having divulged the problem but still knowing nothing of its origin, absently scratched behind the ears of the young Abra, who had at some point climbed up next to her while Ash puzzled over this predicament. 

He hadn't been worried about Meowth because truthfully, he hadn't thought the cat was telling the truth. He was probably back at Team Rocket's latest hideout, laughing about it anyway, right ? 

"Perhaps you two should take some time to talk about this together." Sicora supplied helpfully. 

"Yeah, I think so." Ash agreed. "We'll go back to the Pokémon Center." 

"Well, if you're leaving, let me register you for the North Isles League first, Ash. Where's your identification package ?" 

Ash was temporarily thrown by the request. "I just use my PokéDex." He said finally. 

"That will work just fine." Sicora said, and Ash handed it to her. Standing, she walked over to a console on the wall and slid it into a thin slot. Ash's picture appeared on the screen, and then the computer beeped and hummed. In an exasperated, whiny voice, it announced : 

"This unit is registered to : Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town. Registered trainer of : Indigo Plateau. Registered trainer of : Orange Islands League." There was a short pause, then the mechanical voice reluctantly added, "Registered trainer of : North Isles League." 

And it promptly spat the PokéDex back into Ash's hands, startling him. Sicora rolled her eyes. "Temperamental thing, it is. Gives me all sorts of trouble." She turned off the computer and smiled at him. "Well, that's it. You're registered. You do realize that not everyone who wins my Illusia Badge is passed to the Elemental League, right ?" 

Ash's surprised look was enough to prompt the Gym Leader into continuing, "Essentially, I decide who will advance to compete in the League. And I think you've skill enough to do so. Skill enough by far." 

"I… uhh, thanks." Ash replied, flattered. Modesty was another thing he had learned in the last few years, Gary had teased him on his last trip home. (Gary, on the other hand, still had to learn to practice what he preached…) 

Sicora escorted him to the spiral stairs. She was, Ash thought, a lot more personable than many other Gym Leaders, many of whom gave you a badge and forgot you existed as soon as you were out of their sight. As they walked down the steps, she handed him a folded map. "You'll probably need this." 

"Thanks." Ash repeated, tucking it into his pocket. Pikachu was ahead of them, taking the wide stairs two at a time. 

"Do me a favour, Ash ?" Sicora inquired as they descended the stairs. 

"Sure." 

"When you get to Mehsifet Island… the Gym Leader there is Kantos." 

Ash looked at her. "You want me to say hi to him or something ?" he joked. 

"No, I want you to be careful around him." Sicora's tone was serious enough to make Ash pause. 

"Why ?" They had reached the bottom of the stairs. "Why would I need to be careful around him ?" 

"Because he makes his own rules." 

"I thought you did, too." 

There was a pause from the psychic trainer. "Yes, I do." She admitted. "But my rules aren't dangerous." Before he could say anything, she shook her head as if wondering what had prompted her to bring up the subject in the first place. "Just keep an eye out for him, alright Ash ?" 

"Ok. I will." Ash answered, and Sicora nodded once and watched from the bottom of the stairs as Ash and Pikachu disappeared out the rounded doors, and out of the Cobalt City Gym. 

"I may make my own rules, but my rules have never hurt anyone." Sicora muttered.


	7. I:VI All Tomfoolery Aside

**No Silver Lining - Part 1: The Foundling**

* * *

**

**

Chapter 6: All Tomfoolery Aside 

The temporary lull of downtown that occurred during early dinnertime was present without exception today, noticed Meowth as he eyed a fruit vendor relaxing behind his booth counter. The scratch-cat Pokémon was watching from the alley directly across from the vendor. The man was, plainly put, extremely fat, and who at present time was lazing in a folding chair while reading a newspaper. A wide variety of fruit was spread in the bins in front of him, practically unattended. 

He was waiting for the opportunity to make his move. 

Having realized with disgust that he'd been hiding -- _cowering_, even -- under the bridge while drowning in self-pity had been a better motivator than hunger would ever be for Meowth. The mere thought that he'd sunk so low had driven him into town with purpose. He had, however, opted to make the trip on all four legs to avoid any more attention. It was strange, both good and bad. Bad because he suddenly felt a lot shorter, was used to walking upright, and missed having two free paws, but good because he didn't stand out as much and the fact that he'd never realized how tough bipedal movement was when you had other options ! 

The wind picked up and gusted strongly. The fruit vendor's newspaper was blown from his grasp, and as he made a clumsy grab for it, Meowth made his move, leaving the alleyway and seizing the hasty opportunity. The vendor missed the paper, over-reached for it, and toppled from his chair like a bucket of wet jelly, cursing. The folding chair, which had been none too sturdy beneath his considerable weight to begin with, snapped into pieces. The vendor threw out a hand to stop his fall, but only succeeded in catching the wooden fruit bins. They, in turn, splintered and released a flood of produce into the street. 

Meowth had grabbed a pair of apples before the vendor knew what had happened and was on his way, laughing. It was the fool's own fault, anyway ! The cat rounded a corner on two feet, carrying an apple in each paw, congratulating himself -- 

-- and ran smack into Pikachu, who was taking the corner from the opposite direction. Both Pokémon were thrown back and the apples went rolling, one dropping down a sewer grate and one into the middle of the road, where it was crushed by a passing vehicle. 

"Hey, watch where yer goin' !" Meowth snapped angrily, only to realize three things. 

One, he'd just given himself away, but it didn't matter because, two, he'd just run into Pikachu, and three, that Pikachu was not alone. (Was he ever ?!) Ash was only a few steps behind, and pulled up short at the sight of Meowth. 

For a moment, nobody spoke. 

"Pika. Pika-pi ?" Are you all right ? The electric Pokémon asked, breaking the silence. 

For a second, Meowth was too surprised to answer. "Yeah," He finally said. Behind him, he could still hear the street vendor bellowing furiously, and he wasn't the only one. Ash took one look at the spilled fruit and turned a glare on the cat. 

"Did you do that ?" 

"Not my fault if 'de booth falls down wit' a little wind." Meowth answered snappishly. _What was it with this kid, anyway ?_ Having lost his dinner and his element of surprise, the angry Pokémon started to stalk away, seething. 

"Go back to Team Rocket, you're less trouble that way !" Ash called after him, not in the best of moods. 

_ ... Confusion-hurt-astonishment-rebuke ..._

_ ... Anger-pain-distress-misery-loneliness ..._

Ash reeled as two sets of Pokémon emotions washed through him at the same time, both rather negative and difficult to experience at the same time. It faded quickly; shared emotions never lasted very long, but the last two feelings from the both -- rebuke from Pikachu and loneliness from Meowth -- remained lingering. Suddenly, he was painfully aware of just why Pikachu had been upset with him at Cobalt Gym. Because… 

Because… 

Because, as cruel as it sounded now that he thought about it, he hadn't really cared what happened to Meowth, because of what Team Rocket had done in the past. Most of his life, he'd helped Pokémon who were lost, or hurt, or having trouble with something or another. Now he just… didn't care ? And (metaphorically) kicked them when they were down ? 

_Was it any wonder Pikachu was suddenly so disappointed with him ?_

Appalled by his behaviour, Ash hurried after the cat Pokémon. "Meowth, wait." 

"Go away." The cat hissed, not stopping. The twerp's stinging words still rang fresh in his ears. He intended to put as much distance between himself and Ash, Pikachu, and the whole mess of Cobalt City as possible. 

"Hang on a minute." Ash said, stepping in front of the Pokémon to enforce his stop. He received an uncomplimentary glower and a reluctant halt. 

"Pika-pi. Pi-pi-pikachu." Don't go. Let him talk. Pikachu added. 

"Fine. Talk." Meowth snapped. 

"Did you mean what you said about not being able to go back to Team Rocket ?" Ash questioned, and received a single nod. He thought about asking why again, but that question had produced no answer at the PokéHospital and was not likely to now. So instead, he asked, "Where are you going to go now ?" 

"I don't know." Meowth replied shortly. "Why do you care ?" 

"Pi-pi-chu. Pikachu." You could come with us. Pikachu offered, shooting a glance of curiosity at Ash as he did so. Ash blinked at the suggestion but didn't say anything to contradict it. 

Meowth's first impulse was to say no, his second to forcefully say no, his third to use Scratch attack and his fourth to laugh. But he did none of these, because he… didn't really want to ? 

_What was he thinking ?!_ This was Ash Ketchum, 'The Twerp' that they'd chased for years to steal his Pikachu, the kid that had caused he, Jessie, and James to fall from the Boss's favour more times than they could count, the one they'd finally stopped chasing because Giovanni had threatened to fire them -- and meant it ! 

And now they were offering him their company ? 

They'd mistaken his private incredulity for indecision and Ash added, "Maybe just until you know where you're going ?" Meowth wasn't sure, but he thought there was a hint of sarcastic amusement in his tone. 

He wanted to say no, but… he really didn't want to be alone. The feeling had surfaced abruptly, stinging like salt on a fresh wound. 

If he said no, he'd be alone. _Again. _

And _that_ would be worse than any company Ash Ketchum could provide. 

They must have made an odd tableau, Ash thought, with him standing in front of Meowth and Pikachu at his side, waiting for some answer Ash wasn't sure they were even going to get. He spared a glance at the fruit vendor across the street, who had begun putting his booth back into order, and the few people who had begun to appear on the sidewalks because the dinner-time lull was over now. 

"All right." 

The words startled Ash out of his observations. "You're coming with us ?" he said in surprise, as though the idea had only just now come up. 

"For a while." Meowth clarified. 

"Well… don't you care where we're going ?" Ash questioned. 

"No," Meowth said with tired finality, "I don't care."


	8. I:VII Dissidence

**No Silver Lining - Part 1: The Foundling**

* * *

**

**

Chapter 7: Dissidence 

The walk back to the Pokémon Center was largely silent between the three. As they approached, the building became silhouetted with the sunset. Ash couldn't believe the day had passed so quickly. 

When they entered the PokéHospital, Nurse Joy looked up with a customary greeting on her lips that faded when she saw Meowth. "You found him !" she exclaimed, sounding relieved. She bustled over and gave him an on-the-spot check-up, which he endured in silence. Most of his injuries had healed themselves already and because of persistent grooming, would probably only be spotted if one knew they were there in the first place. 

"Well, you look fine." Joy said finally, stepping back. Meowth stepped back out of her reach and didn't quite glower at Nurse Joy, who didn't notice. Instead, the woman was talking to Ash, who also wasn't paying much attention. Ash noticed that Meowth was walking on all four legs, and realized that the scratch-cat had been doing that the whole way here. He wondered what that was about. 

"… Ash ?" Nurse Joy repeated. "Did you hear me ?" 

Ash blinked. "No, sorry, Nurse Joy." He said, turning to face her. "What did you say ?" 

"I said, do you want me to put him back in the Recovery Room until his owners come for him ?" 

There was no need for Ash to look at Meowth to know that the suggestion had not gone over well. If he _had_ looked, he would have seen the cat trying to hide a cringe at the mention of the subject. Ash was also privately surprised; Nurse Joy had no idea Meowth could walk or talk. If Ash didn't know it already, he would never have guessed it either. The cat looked and acted, for all appearances, like a normal Pokémon. 

_And that assumption,_ Ash thought slightly sourly, _would be most people's mistake._

"No, he can stay with Pikachu and me tonight." Ash said. "We don't mind." 

"Well… alright." Nurse Joy conceded after a moment. "Oh, I forgot to tell you. Nurse Joy said to say hi, and to tell you that all of the power in Mauvetown was restored. She wanted me to thank you for your help, too." 

Ash grinned. "No problem." He said. 

The clock on the wall chimed seven o'clock and Joy looked flustered. "Oh dear, I still haven't gotten those reports finished. I'm sorry, Ash, but I really must go work on them now." 

Ash nodded and the woman went back over to her computer to finish her work. With Pikachu still on his shoulder and Meowth trailing behind, Ash climbed the steps that led to the upper levels of the PokéCenter, the part where overnight rooms reserved for trainers were located. _It was a nice service,_ he thought, since very few people his age could afford hotel rooms or the like on a regular basis. 

He found the room number he had been assigned -- 6B -- and pushed open the door. Inside was a single bed, a pair of chairs, a couch and table upon which was a videophone, screen dark. "Oh, man !" he exclaimed, annoyed with himself for forgetting, "I told Mom I'd call her !" Taking off his backpack and setting it down, he picked up the receiver part and dialed the number. 

---------- 

_**"Ring-ring-ring ! Ring-ring-ring ! Phone call ! Phone call ! Ring-ring-ring ! Ring-ring-ring ! Phone call ! Phone call !"**_

Delia Ketchum hurried inside at the sound of the phone, wiping the dirt from the garden on her apron and touching the receive button on the videophone. "Hello ?" 

Ash's smiling image appeared on the screen, and Delia beamed at her son. "Hi, honey !" 

_ "Hi, Mom !"_ Ash said across the line. _"Told you I'd call back after I won the badge !"_

He held it up for her to see. Delia peered closely at the screen -- the connection was slightly fuzzy, but it was definitely a Gym Badge. "That's wonderful, Ash." She smiled, "What's it called ?" 

_ "Illusia Badge. Sicora, the Gym Leader here, is really nice. And guess what ! She registered me for the North Isles League ! It starts in two months, and I'm gonna bring you home another trophy !"_

His excitement was contagious and Delia laughed at her son's enthusiasm. Mr. Mime came in just then, complete with digging tools and straw hat. Mr. Mime was such a wonderful help around the house, Delia thought. 

"You should call Professor Oak and give him the good news, honey." She said, and Ash gave another big smile. 

_ "Yeah, I will, Mom !"_ He promised. _"Everything ok there ?"_

"Everything's fine." She answered, "The garden's doing great for so early in the year. How are your Pokémon ?" 

As if in response to her question, Pikachu butted his way under Ash's arm and chirped a cheerful, "Pikachu !" into the screen. 

_"They're all fine."_ Ash said. _"We're leaving Cobalt tomorrow morning."_

"Then you'd better get some sleep, honey." Delia encouraged, earning a look of playful exasperation from her son. He was, after all, a teenager. 

_"We'll get a good night's sleep and be up early."_ He evaded her instructions neatly, which she didn't miss. She let it slide, though. 

"Well, goodnight, Ash. I love you. Be careful and have fun." She said fondly. 

_ "I will, Mom. Both. Goodnight !"_

---------- 

Ash touched the button to end the call and the screen went dark. Pikachu leapt nimbly from Ash's lap and onto the table, where Ash had set down his backpack. Nosing into it, he found the little book Ash used to write down people's phone numbers. 

"Pika !" he exclaimed, and Ash twisted around in the chair to see, then flushed. 

"Yeah, well, not my fault if I get his number mixed up all the time. Remember that one time I ended up calling that old lady in Moyota Town ?" he laughed, and Pikachu gave the Pokémon equivalent of rolled eyes and handed Ash the book. Ash took it and looked briefly past Pikachu. Meowth had gotten up on one of the spare chairs and was watching them silently. When the trainer tried to meet his eye, the cat looked away. Ash gave up and turned back to the videophone. He consulted the book briefly, then dialed. 

When the computer on the other end picked up, Ash could see there was something wrong. There were feathers everywhere. Professor Oak himself could not be seen. 

"Professor Oak ?" Ash said, wishing the camera could move around. Some of the better models could. He was answered by a loud squawk, and then a Pidgey -- at least, it looked like a Pidgey -- flew past the screen. It was closely followed by another flurry of feathers, and then Professor Oak appeared on screen. 

_"Hello ?"_ he asked, brushing away some stray feathers. Then his face lit up with a smile. _"Oh, Ash ! Hello ! How are you, m'boy ?"_

"Fine, Professor." Ash answered, "What's going on there ?" 

Samuel Oak ducked as a Spearow went screaming overhead. When the coast was clear he sat back up. _"I said I'd watch a friend's training flock for a few days. He didn't tell me that they wouldn't be in their PokéBalls. So now they're practicing their formation flying inside the lab !"_

A Pidgeotto landed on Oak's shoulder and tapped at the screen. Deciding that it was not something worth it's while, the winged Pokémon stole the Professor's reading glasses right out of his pocket. _"Hey !"_ The man exclaimed, making a grab for them. He missed, and the Pidgeotto took flight again, still carrying the glasses. Oak sweatdropped with a sigh. 

Ash tried not to giggle and failed. It turned into a laugh that brought tears of mirth to his eyes. And all the while, the bird Pokémon continued to swoop around the lab in the background. 

_"Well, I'm glad someone finds this funny_." Oak grumbled. _"Say… where are you, anyway, Ash ?"_

"Cobalt City." Ash answered proudly. "Did you know there's a Gym League around here ? Called the North Isles League. I'm going to enter it. I've already won the entrance badge." 

_"Isn't that the 'Elemental' League ?"_ Oak questioned, and when Ash affirmed, he smiled and nodded. _"Well, good for you ! Have you caught any new Pokémon lately ?"_

"No." Ash answered, resisting the urge to look over his shoulder. 

_"Oh. Well, that's all right. You've still got quite the collection here."_ Oak reminded him. 

"I may need some of them for this League." Ash mused. He'd have to find out about the Gym Leaders first, though, before he traded any of his current Pokémon for any of his stored ones. 

_"All you have to do is call."_ Oak said. _"Oh, speaking of call, did you call your mother ?"_

"Yeah." Ash answered. Another Pidgey careened past Oak's head. More feathers floated down, including one that sat on top of the man's head -- he didn't notice. 

_ "Look, I'm sorry to cut this conversation short Ash, but I really need to do something about these Pokémon."_ Oak apologized. _"Call me if you need anything."_

"Bye, Professor Oak." Ash said, and the connection dropped immediately afterward. 

"Pika-pi-pikachu-pi-pikachu !" Look at the mess he's in now ! Pikachu chortled. 

"His troubles ain't exactly light as a feather." Meowth remarked from his spot. Ash sweatdropped at the pun, but the effect was ruined because he was still chuckling himself. His stomach growled at him, interrupting his merriment. Sheepishly, he realized that he was hungry. How come he never realized that until his stomach reminded him ? 

"I'll go get something for us to eat from downstairs." He said, and he took off his jacket, draping it over the back of the couch. "You two stay here." He said, and pulled the door shut behind him. 

Abruptly alone, the two Pokémon looked at each other in silence. 

Pikachu was the first to move; he took the address book that Ash had used and put it back inside the backpack. He only took his eyes off Meowth for a moment, but when he looked back, the other Pokémon was no longer sitting on the chair. "Pi !" he said in surprise. 

Meowth had moved to the couch and was reaching a paw inside Ash's jacket pocket. "Pikachu ! Pi-pika !" The electric Pokémon exclaimed. Hey ! Leave that alone ! 

The cat didn't answer and kept rummaging. Angrily, Pikachu jumped off the table. "Pika ! Pikachu !" Stop that ! Now ! When Meowth didn't comply, he released a bolt of electrical energy. It wasn't, be any means, a powerful jolt, but it did have the desired effect. 

With a hiss, Meowth pulled his paws from the jacket pocket. The PokéDex clattered to the floor, and the cover flipped open. 'Thinking' it had been activated, Dexter picked up the nearest Pokémon and announced, 

_ "Meowth. The cat Pokémon. Meowth can be found in all types of environment. Possessing sharp claws and teeth, they are sometimes nocturnal and may prefer to hunt for food at night. They are attracted to objects that are shiny or round." _

Meowth, feeling somewhat singed, had retreated to underneath the chair again and glared daggers at Pikachu. "Is 'dat your answer for everything ?" he hissed. Angrily, Pikachu was about to retort, but Ash chose that moment to return, opening the door with one hand while the other balanced a tray full of sandwiches and fruit. As soon as he entered, he could tell something was wrong. The tension in the room was almost electric, (no pun intended) and either Pokémon looked very happy. His PokéDex lay open on the floor. 

"Hey…" He said, "What happened ?" 

"Pika." Nothing. Pikachu responded, sullenly. 

Ash didn't believe that for a second. He turned to Meowth, "What happened in here ?" 

"Nothing." Meowth echoed, still glaring. Ash walked over to the table and set the tray of food down. He leaned over and retrieved the PokéDex from the floor and closed it, pushing it back into his jacket pocket. He obviously wasn't going to get any answers from either of them right now, so they might as well eat. 

"I got some of everything, since I didn't know what you wanted." He said, speaking to them both. When either one moved towards him, he sighed expansively. "Come on, you two. Can't you get along long enough to eat ?" Somewhere in his mind, he thought, _Who knew I'd end up saying something like that ?_

Apparently deciding that Meowth was not worth earning Ash's unhappiness or an empty stomach for, Pikachu went to his trainer. "That's better." Ash said, scratching Pikachu behind the ears. Meowth hadn't moved and didn't look like he was about to anytime soon. Ash shrugged -- if he wanted to sit under the chair and be hungry, then that was his decision. 

Meowth watched the pair eating. Yes, he was hungry, but there was no way in heaven or hell he was going to crawl out like a docile little pet and get his food that way. He'd just as soon starve first. One thing this whole ordeal had not stolen was his pride, and he wasn't about to throw that away -- to the twerp, no less -- so he could get a snack. 

He actually didn't hate either of them. Resented them, yes, disliked, yes, but Meowth didn't hate either Ash or Pikachu. In the past, when the situation had called for it, he and Pikachu had actually worked together on some things. The memory of running from the giant Rhydon sprang to mind, after they'd been locked together with a cable. Or the time when they'd worked together to get out of that cave. Or… 

He shook his head. _Why was he getting so reflective all of a sudden ?_

After they had apparently finished, he watched them get ready for bed. Ash took off his belt, and, mindful of the PokéBalls on it, set it down on the table, and then pulled off his hat and fingered gloves, and then his shoes. His outfit hadn't changed much from the first time that Meowth had saw him. Everything had just been replaced for larger sizes. The platter of food was left uncovered on the table. 

After turning on the lamp beside the bed and turning off the room's overhead light, Ash pulled back the covers on the bed and sat. Pulling his jacket towards him, he gave the Illusia Badge another admiring glance. Another step in becoming a Pokémon Master, he thought proudly, his mood improved from earlier already. "Come on, Pikachu." He said, putting the jacket back. The Pokémon bounded over to the bed, and hopped easily onto it and settled down. Ash rubbed him behind the ears, which made Pikachu sigh happily as he dozed off. 

"Goodnight, Pikachu." Ash said affectionately, and then glanced over at Meowth. "Goodnight, Meowth." 

Still unmoved from his position underneath the chair, the cat made no reply. _Was he planning to stay like that all night ?_ Ash sighed and lay down. Stubborn Pokémon. He began to wonder if this whole idea was even a good one -- letting Meowth come with them tomorrow. 

Pikachu had curled up against him and was already sleeping, or at least dozing, lulled by the rubbing Ash had done. Touch had a very soothing effect on most Pokémon. 

Reaching over and pulling the lamp string, he clicked it off, draping the room in darkness. A bit of moonlight came through the window, making everything barely visible in the silvery-blue light. It had been too good a day to let little troubles bother him tonight, he thought, and with that in mind, he drifted off to sleep as well.


	9. I:VIII Scene of the Crime

**No Silver Lining - Part 1: The Foundling**

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**

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Chapter 8: Scene of the Crime 

There were two things wrong that he immediately noticed when he woke. One, he was no longer under the chair but on the couch, and two, he was covered up. Meowth sat up with a start and realized that somehow over the course of the night, he'd been moved and then covered with a soft blanket. Slightly disoriented, he looked across the room, but both Ash and Pikachu were still sleeping. 

Either of them looked as though they had moved much during the night. The sun was just brightening the window; it was still very early, just past dawn. Meowth was NOT a happy Pokémon. To know that someone had been moving around the room last night and he hadn't woken up at the sound of it made him… annoyed. Things like that shouldn't happen. 

Quietly, he stood up, pushing the blanket away. The platter of food was still on the table -- all the sandwiches were gone but there were still some other things. The two were asleep, it would be easy enough to eat now. But that would mean that he was still accepting food from the twerp. Intolerable ! Unacceptable ! 

So, with silent movements, Meowth went to the door and pulled it open. He had to reach, because even standing on two legs almost every door handle was too high for him. But, this being a PokéCenter, everything was built a bit smaller for the not-so-tall trainers. The door swung inward and once he was in the hallway, he pulled it shut again. It made a soft click as it shut, but nothing more. 

Rested, healed, and quite hungry, Meowth went down the stairs and let himself out the door, again walking on all four feet to avoid attention. It was still too early for most people to be up -- even Nurse Joy was not yet at her usual place. Everyone was still sleepy, gullible, and unaware he was on the prowl. Perfect… 

Back inside room 6B, Pikachu opened his eyes from their slitted position. "Chuuu…" he sighed sadly, looking at the closed door. 

---------- 

This was going to be different than the fruit vendor the day before. This person, a younger man, was watching his shop closely. His store was not one for fruit but rather for fresh meats like sausages. There were a few displays hanging outside the door, but the best stuff was inside. Meowth would have to try a different tactic. But it would be easy; it always had been for him. If it was anything his life had taught him, it was street smarts. If he could get food in a place like Hollywood, he could get food in the sleepy little city of Cobalt. 

He had to get inside the door, first. So he sat patiently until the shopkeeper opened the door to dump some swept-up dust. When the man turned around, Meowth slipped in the door behind him and around a shelf and out of sight. Then he waited until the man turned around to get something, and placed himself directly in front of the counter with his most innocent expression. He knew it looked good, good enough to fool an unsuspecting stranger -- it even worked on Jessie and James, occasionally. 

_ **Had **worked_, that malicious voice in his mind howled gleefully. _No more !_

_Go away,_ Meowth snapped at the voice, but a lump rose in his throat. He would have broken down had the shopkeeper not turned around and spotted him at that moment. It was a good thing his mask was firmly in place. 

"Well, hello there." The shopkeeper said in surprise. "How did you get in here ?" 

"Mrrrow." Meowth purred, trying for adorable. And, like the charm on his forehead, it worked, and the man smiled endearingly. 

"Awww… how cute. Hungry, huh ? I may have a few scraps for you, little fella." 

_Idiot,_ thought Meowth, _you think I'm here for scraps ?_ When the shopkeeper turned around to look for some older, smaller pieces, Meowth snatched a string of fresh sausages off the counter. _Time to go !_

He whirled and headed for the door as fast as he could, but he'd overlooked one crucial fact in his escape plan -- the door at the PokéCenter might have had a low handle that he could reach, but this one didn't. He couldn't reach ! 

"Hey !" The man yelled, finding instead of a cute, hungry Pokémon, a thief with some of his prized sausages. "Come back here, thief !" He grabbed a broom from its position against the counter and swung at Meowth. The cat dodged easily and dashed around a shelf. The shopkeeper swung again but Meowth wasn't there anymore and he only succeeded in knocking cans and boxes off the shelf. 

Meowth smirked as the shopkeeper searched for him. He'd ducked into a closed shelf unit and was watching through the crack. The man was a fool. All humans were fools. 

He heard the front door open and bolted from the safety of his hiding place. Past the swinging broom of the furious shopkeeper, around the tall shelves that swayed as he used them for traction, through the legs of an elderly lady who had just walked in and gave a shriek as he passed, and out onto the street. Home free ! 

He could hear the man yelling and cursing after him, but not giving chase. Meowth gripped the sausages that were his breakfast and laughed as he ran. 

All humans were fools. 

---------- 

Ash was awake, dressed, and folding the blanket that had been left on the couch when Meowth returned. He hadn't been facing the door when it opened, and without turning around, commented, "I didn't expect you to come back." 

"Pi-pi-chu ? Pikachu." Why do you have those ? Ash heard Pikachu say, and he turned around. Meowth was carrying a length of small-link sausages. The chain was short enough for him to realize some had already been eaten. Ash gave the cat a stony glare. 

"Where did you get those ?" He demanded, and when Meowth volunteered no answer, Ash sighed. "You stole them, didn't you ?" 

Meowth gave the teen a smug look and took his breakfast to the chair he had occupied yesterday evening, as though flaunting his disobedience. Then Ash caught himself -- had he really expected anything else ? Like Meowth was really going to listen to him ? 

"Pi ?" Why ? Pikachu questioned. 

"Because I was hungry." The cat retorted, as though that were the only justification he needed. 

"There's food here at the Pokémon Center !" Ash exclaimed, annoyed. 

"So ?" 

The trainer shook his head in exasperation. "It's not right to steal." He said. 

The look Meowth gave him was one of disinterest, which infuriated Ash. He realized he was going to have to deal with this, but getting mad would not help. He would have to come up with a solution in another way. So instead of getting mad, he calmly asked, "Which shop did you get them from ? Can you show me ?" 

The scratch-cat gave Ash a look that said, 'Are you crazy ? Why should I ?' more plainly than any words could have. 

"Please ?" Ash questioned, picking up his jacket and putting it on, then reaching for his backpack. 

There was a long silence in the room, during which no one moved, and then a silent acquiesce as Meowth again stood and walked to the door, waiting. 

By the time they reached the vendor, the sun was completely up and there were a few early risers on the streets of Cobalt. The city was winding up for another busy day, it seemed. 

"'Dat's 'de place." Meowth said, stopping across the street from the small building. Ash stepped off the sidewalk and went to cross the road when he realized that only Pikachu was with him. He stopped and turned around. 

"Aren't you coming ?" 

"Do I look crazy to you, twerp ?" Was the reply. Ash gave a half-sigh, half-growl and left him there. Pikachu looked about as exasperated as he felt. When he pushed open the door, a little bell above him jangled. The shopkeeper looked up gave a smile. 

"Good morning." He said. "What can I do for you today ?" 

Meowth watched Ash and Pikachu enter the store. How stupid did Ash think he was, anyway ? Go back into the shop he had just stolen breakfast from ? Some days he wasn't sure if maybe Pikachu hadn't zapped a few too many brain cells from Ash, because some days, he thought, the human sure acted like it. Whoever said thieves always return to the scene of the crime was obviously not a thief. Or at least, not a very good one, because smart thieves sure didn't ! 

Still… he wanted to see what Ash did. Curiosity, at the very least. So he crossed the road after looking both ways (a habit he'd picked up in Hollywood where the posted speed limit was usually observed only in car washes) and peeked his head in the door. 

Ash had several small packages on the counter in front of him, and the man was wrapping up another. 

"… north of here ?" Ash was saying. 

"You'll want to go to the harbour." The man answered kindly, handing the last of the packages to the trainer. "Just follow the main road through town and straight into the forest. Keep going down the trail and follow the signs. You'll come to a hill called The Ferry Dock. Go right until you come to a bus stop, and there'll be a woman there who will take you to the harbour. It'll be quite the hike through the woods -- not many people use it." 

"Thanks." Ash said, memorizing the directions and pulling out some money to pay for his purchases as Meowth watched. He couldn't read the total from here but he was sure that the amount Ash gave the man was a lot more than what he needed to pay. Money was something he understood just fine. Meowth frowned. What was with this kid, anyway ? 

"Thanks again." Ash said as he turned to leave. 

"Hey, wait," exclaimed the man. "Don't you want your change ?" 

"No. I'm paying for him, too." Ash said, pointing at Meowth, who had curiously moved part way into the shop. 

The man looked past Ash and spotted Meowth, who had not drawn back fast enough to avoid being seen. The shopkeeper obviously recognized the cat and, grabbing the broom again, started to come around the counter. Ash stepped in front of him quickly and asked, "Is what I gave you enough to cover what he stole ?" 

"Yes." The man answered without hesitation, still gripping the broom and glaring murderously at the cat. 

"Then it shouldn't be a problem." Ash said quietly, taking the packages and putting them in his backpack. Then, ignoring the shopkeeper, left the shop. Pikachu waited until Meowth had exited first, then followed. Ash was walking down the street, and Pikachu leapt up onto his shoulder. 

"Here you go, Pikachu." Ash said, offering the Pokémon a berry. Pikachu ate it happily and said, "Piii." 

"You're welcome." Ash answered. "Would you like some too ?" he called back to the cat, who was following a few meters back in silence. 

Meowth had watched in incredulous silence as Ash had paid for not only his food but for the sausages Meowth had taken also. The only explanation the cat could come up with was that Ash was a bit out of his mind. _Why would he do that ?_ It didn't make any sense. He hadn't been caught, in fact, he'd gotten away scot free. _Why waste the money ?_

He was jolted from his musings by Ash's question. "No." he answered, then muttered, "No, thank you." He was not without all manners, after all. 

He expected the human to lecture him about not stealing some more, but he just continued to share his breakfast with Pikachu. For the umpteenth time that morning, he questioned just why he was trailing along behind the twerp, of all people. 

He had yet to come up with a decent answer. But he kept tagging along, much to his chagrin.


	10. I:IX Hegira

**No Silver Lining - Part 1: The Foundling**

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Chapter 9: Hegira 

"Cobalt City Limits. Cobalt Harbour -- this way." Ash read, once they had reached the outskirts of town. "That's where we want to go. Hopefully we can catch a boat north." 

"Pika." Pikachu agreed, looking at the sign and understanding it gave directions but not understanding the words themselves. 

"Boat ?" Meowth repeated, startled, coming to a stop beside him. "What do you mean, boat ?" 

"B-O-A-T. We're going to the Zephyr Islands, which are north of here." Ash spelled out firmly. "You're welcome to come IF you haven't changed your mind and IF you promise not to steal anything else. Otherwise you can stay here." 

"I'll come." Meowth muttered, in a voice that implied he was being coerced into this decision. By what, Ash wasn't sure… maybe he was imagining it. 

The forest spread like a green wave in front of them. He stopped and turned, looking out over Cobalt City for the last time. The city was cheery in the sunlight, and above it all, the PokéBall topped spire of Sicora's Gym rose majestically. He stood there for a few minutes, taking it in, and then purposefully turned back to the forest, and the narrow road -- trail ? -- through it. "Well… come on." He said, and grinned. 

Pikachu ran ahead of Ash, who picked up his own pace. Meowth lagged behind but, as Ash noticed, was still following. 

The forest, which to Ash's knowledge didn't have a name, was quiet except for the occasional chirping of birds. Ash saw a pair of Mankey peering down from a high branch and pointed them out. A Rattata ran across the path ahead of them, following closely by half a dozen much smaller ones. Everything was alive, it seemed, with Pokémon. 

A rapid _clash-clash-clash_ sound caught Ash's ear. He turned his head to hear it clearer, but he couldn't pinpoint it. 

"You hear that ?" He asked. 

"Pi." Pikachu affirmed. Meowth came alongside him and canted his head to the side. 

"Over there." The cat nodded to the brush to Ash's left. Ash put a hand on the bushes and pushed them aside. There was nothing there, but the sound did become a bit clearer. He saw a bit of a clearing ahead. As they came upon it, Ash's eyes widened. 

Scyther. Scyther everywhere ! There had to be at least thirty or forty of them in the clearing. They had formed a loose circle around a trio of Scyther, two of which were viciously fighting and the third who was standing somewhat off to the side. 

"Hey… what are they doing ?" Ash said quietly, watching through the bushes. The two fighting Scyther swung razor-sharp blades at each other, missing each other by mere inches. If one of those swings contacted… 

The smaller of the two knocked the other to the ground, gave a cry Ash could only describe as one of victory, and raised both blades for a final strike. 

"Hey !" Ash stood, making a move to intervene. Immediately, he was pulled back down by both Pokémon. "Hey !" he exclaimed, with an altogether different inflection. The Scyther had apparently not noticed his intrusion, and the smaller one brought both blades whistling down while the other Scyther lay pinned and helpless… 

Both blades struck the grass on either side of the opponent's head, harmlessly. 

"Scyther." Said the smaller fighter. 

"Scyther." Answered the larger one on the ground, chagrined. 

"Scyther ! Scyther !" rallied the rest of the group, and the smaller fighter helped the fallen one up. The third of the trio, who had been silent up until now, aimed a playful cuff at the larger Scyther and nuzzled the smaller one. The whole group began to dissipate. 

Ash turned to Pikachu and Meowth, both of whom, amazingly enough, were snickering. "What happened ? What's so funny ?" He demanded, which made both Pokémon laugh harder. Ash blushed, wondering if he was on the butt end of some weird Pokémon inside joke. 

"Pi-pi. Pikachu-pika-pi-pi-chu. Pikachu." Pikachu chortled. You almost interrupted their joining. You said you wanted to fight him. 

"I did ?" Ash answered, bewildered. "No, I didn't." 

Meowth, who had been unable to voice a coherent reply because of his mirth, clarified for him, "'Dose two are gettin' what you'se humans call married." 

"The two fighting ?" Ash asked incredulously. 

"No," Meowth said, exasperated, "'Dose two 'dere." He pointed to the pair who were nuzzling each other affectionately. 

"Oh." Ash said, feeling foolish. "But I didn't say anything about fighting them ! Why were they fighting, anyway ?" 

"'Dat one," Meowth pointed again, this time to the larger fighter, "Is 'dat one's brother." Pointing to the one of the trio had had not been fighting. "And she wants to 'marry' 'dat one 'dere." He indicated the smaller fighter. 

"So why were they fighting ?" Ash repeated, still confused. 

"Pika. Pikachu-pika. Pikachu !" Her bother wanted to make sure the other was good enough. 

"For what ?" 

"To be with her." Meowth finished. This kid still had a lot to learn about Pokémon. 

"Oh." Ash said again, looking at the clearing. All the Scyther were gone, now. The clearing was empty and quiet again. "Come on." He said, still feeling a bit left out of the loop, "We'd better get going." 

Pikachu and Meowth looked at each other, and it was almost as though some of the tension between them had dissipated. They hurried after Ash and both walked beside him -- one on either side. 

---------- 

Cobalt Harbour was apparently not as popular as Cobalt City, even though the little cove was situated at the base of the cliffs, the same cliffs that, farther west, Mauvetown sat upon. The harbour was rather quaint. They took a short bus ride that meandered its way down the face of the cliff. Besides Ash, there were no other trainers on the bus. The driver was a short woman who smiled a lot. 

"Don't make this trip very often." She chattered. "Sometimes only once a day." 

"Are there any boats going north ?" Ash asked. 

"A few." the driver answered, "Don't know why you'd want to go there, though. Nothing but a few islands, anyway." 

_And a Gym League_, Ash thought to himself, but he didn't say anything aloud. Instead, he asked, "Do you think any of them will take passengers ?" 

"Well, I don't know." The driver said thoughtfully, "But I suppose you could ask." 

Ash intended to do just that, and when the bus reached the bottom of the cliff, he thanked the driver and Pikachu and Meowth in tow, headed for the docks. 

Most of the boats were small watercraft, probably fishing or maybe pleasure craft. None of them looked big enough to take passengers on any length of trip. 

"Excuse me," he hailed an older man working on one of the boats, an old wooden yacht, "You got a minute ?" 

The man stopped what he was doing and made his way across the yacht's deck, which was littered with piles of boxes. "Hello, young man." He greeted Ash, "You can have yer minute if'n you talk fast, I gotta get goin' a'fore this storm blows in." 

Ash spared a glance at the cloudless horizon and decided not to question this time. "Are there any ships here that are headed for the Zephyr Islands ?" he asked hopefully. 

"Sure, son." The man grinned, showing off a few missing teeth. "Big cruise ship makes a trip up 'round there once every month, drops people off." 

"Great !" Ash exclaimed. 

"Pi-chu. Pikachu." Pikachu muttered sideways to Meowth, who had sat down beside him. That was too easy. 

"Yeah." Meowth answered quietly. 

Almost picking up on the Pokémon's skepticism, Ash asked, "When does it arrive ?" 

"Well, now, let me see." The man thought about it for a second, then replied, "Why, it left last week, it did." 

Ash sighed. There was a smug 'told-you-so' look passed between the two Pokémon. 

"Are there any _other_ boats going there ?" The teen inquired. 

"Well, sure, son. I'm leavin' shortly, goin' up that way. Gotta git goin' a'fore the storm gets here." The old man said, lifting another of the boxes onto the deck. "If'n you want to come, you can help load up." 

They got underway about 20 minutes later, with the deck loaded with boxes and barrels. There was no where to sit on the deck itself, so the three of them perched on top of a canvas cover and watched as Cobalt Harbour faded from sight behind them. There was still no sign of a storm on the horizon. 

"North Isles League, here I come !" Ash enthused, looking ahead over the water. 

"Pikachu !" Pikachu added, pleased. Ash's enthusiasm was contagious, always had been. 

Meowth just laid down on the canvas and shook his head, lost in thought.

* * *

**So ends** **Part 1: The Foundling.**


End file.
